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Given the way he destroyed the field in Sunday’s pre-Tour criterium race in the centre of Adelaide, it came as little surprise that Andre Greipel took the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday.
With two wins in two, Lotto-Belisol’s German powerhouse is clearly the man in form and South Australia is very much his favoured playground: victory in the sweltering 149 kilometre stage from Prospect to Clare was the 29 year old’s ninth career Tour Down Under scalp.
Only a fool would bet against him reaching double figures before the week’s out.
Of course, the big crash that split the peloton inside the final 800m will be the day’s main talking point – especially for Australia’s GreenEDGE team whose entire roster was caught up in the spill – but for now let’s talk Greipel. Or to be more precise, let’s talk Lotto.
For the difference between Andre Greipel this year and the Andre Greipel of years past is that this version not only has all the personal attributes that makes him one of the peloton’s fastest men – he now has a team to match his huge ability.
Whereas in years past, a strong showing for Greipel in Australia might have been one of the highlights of his season, this year there’s every suggestion that Greipel can beat old foe Mark Cavendish in a Grand Tour sprint finish – and not simply because his former HTC teammate is suffering an off-day.
Greipel’s body language last season at Omega Pharma-Lotto was all wrong. For his high standards, he had a rather average year, his only major victory coming in a Tour de France in which he found his opportunities stymied by the brilliance of old teammate Philippe Gilbert.
This year Greipel appears to be top dog. Reunited with Greg Henderson and surrounded by powerful units such as Marcel Sieberg, Greipel has a sprint train up there with the best. Adding such a bullish lead-out to someone already as freakishly imposing as Greipel gives Lotto a devastating advantage – both physical and psychological – over their rivals.
On Monday evening I chatted to Vacansoleil-DCM’s Kenny van Hummel about Greipel’s sheer physicality. How does anyone stand a chance beating a guy with such huge thighs, I asked?
“It’s not his body I’m scared about, it’s his confidence,” said the pint-sized Dutch sprinter. “This year it’s different because he’s got a solid team around him and a great lead-out man in Henderson. It’s made him even stronger.”
Before Tuesday’s start in Prospect, I approached a group of fans who had gathered opposite the Lotto-Belisol team car and asked who they thought was going to win the stage. Their ringleader’s answer was telling: “Lotto are unbeatable. It’s a real team effort and Andre Greipel will win.”
So off I moseyed towards the man of the moment himself to get his take. “Andre, are you going for another win today?” Sitting in the boot of his car, drinking water and looking extremely focused, Greipel looked up, smiled and gave his succinct verdict: “We try.”
There’s no ‘i’ in Lotto, it seems. His rivals and his fans both agree that it’s not just the man’s mammoth thighs that make him stand out – it’s those who surround him.
Greipel now has a team that is prepared to put its neck on the line for its man.
Quite literally. With Greipel’s sweet victory came news that his Belgian team-mate, Jurgen Roelandts, had been one of the main victims in that nasty pile-up inside the final kilometre. The 26-year-old former national champion was taken to Adelaide hospital with a suspected fractured neck.
Also going down in the crash was Henderson. Both men had done such a good job protecting their man that Greipel avoided the crash and was among a small group of 20 riders to contest the finish. Italian veteran Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre-ISD showed his enduring class, but Greipel did enough to take a photo-finish win.
Greipel was all smiles on the winner’s podium – but as soon as he learned of Roelandts’ fate from Lotto-Belisol manager Herman Frison, you could see the colour drain from the German’s face.
“I was lucky today,” Greipel later told the press. “Two of my team-mates crashed and that’s all I can think about after winning the stage.”
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Felix Lowe is an English cycling journalist covering the Tour Down Under for the UK’s CycleSport magazine, for whom he is writing a race diary. This week he is following the race in the team cars of Astana, Katusha, Vacansoleil-DCM and Sky Procycling. He has covered seven years of Grand Tours for Eurosport and writes a regular cycling blog on Eurosport.Yahoo.com called Blazin’ Saddles. He contributes to the VeloNation and Cyclismas websites and can be followed on Twitter @saddleblaze.
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