Thursday, July 4, 2013

Griepel gets a grip.


Andre's turn for victory in stage 5 came under almost the exact same circumstances as Cavendish's victory in stage 4 yesterday. The only major difference being the strong winds that buffered the peloton all day and neutralized almost any thoughts of a breakaway attempt. The few meager efforts were brought back into the fold quickly. 

That left us set up for the first full tilt bunch sprint of the tour. Much like OPQS did yesterday for Cav, Lotto Belisol played their cards perfectly and delivered Greipel to the line in textbook fashion. The Missile knew he didn't have a shot after spending energy to work his way back to the group after a late crash. With no teammates to help out he was at the mercy of the others. When Henderson took the last pull he split off left and Cav made the wrong choice in direction. By that point Greipel was already deep into his sprint and Sagan could only hold on his wheel for second. Kittel made a late charge to beat Cavendish to the line for third and Greipel struck a classic pose as he celebrated his first win of this years Grand Boucle. 

The big german may not be in the lead for the sprinters jersey...but he is well ahead in the photogenic points race as far as I'm concerned. 

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