Andre Greipel says neither traffic nor painkillers drugs caused the crashes in cycling. The 31-year-old German sprinter criticizes the over-my-body mentality in the sport. And he singles out French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni as one example and he believes these riders should pay for their reckless riding.

The past few months Greipel was falling, falling and fall once more in the spring classics. At Ghent-Wevelgem Andre Greipel went to the ground. The German sprinter for Lotto-Belisol suggests a lack of respect in the peloton.

"As a young rider, I just did not think to explain by taking unwarranted risks in the way of a man like Erik Zabel something," Greipel tells De Zondag.

"What I see now and then, is really not normal. I always try to make sure I do not bring the riders bikes beside me in danger."

"If everyone did that, we ride on safely. But now I see guys popping up that just never brake."

About Bouhanni "He confuses cycling with boxing."

Two years ago, Greipel spoke to Bouhanni about his sprinting. "I showed him the things he did wrong. In a polite manner initially. But in a more stern tone later when he did not listen. "

"He did not understand that a sprinter has certain responsibilities because he has 100 guys behind him. At one point he even wanted to attack me too. Tonight we fight in the hotel,  he told me. Madness."

"When Zabel and McEwen would have blamed me for something earlier I would have been only five inches big. Today they want to spit on your face. "

The Dog

The past few weeks Greipel has been training in Turkey. There he got to grips with a dog . "On a deserted country road suddenly this dog appeared. I couldn’t get rid of him!" laughs Greipel.

"For a time I had to read the situation over. I picked up a stick from the road and gave him a gentle slap. The animal then lost all of its aggression. A few days later I was down the same road and he was there again. I threw him an energy bar in order to give myself time to escape!” says Greipel.