With 16 wins, André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) was again the most successful rider in the entire peloton when it comes to the number of victories. Hence, it is no surprise that the German draws a positive balance of his season. "Overall I am very satisfied," he told radsport-news.com.
However, not everything went as Greipel had hoped for in 2014. "Despite the many victories there were also some big blows," he said, referring to his crash in Gent-Wevelgem which left him with a broken collarbone and a premature end to his classics season. But also in the Tour de France where he won at least one stage for the fourth year in a row, Greipel was asking for "a little more luck."
The 32-year-old refers to the fact that his lead-out man Greg Henderson was forced out of the race after a crash in stage 4. In the opening stage in Harrogates, Greipel was held up behind Mark Cavendish's crash in the finale and so missed out on the opportunity to win the stage and take the yellow jersey.
Furthermore, the Lotto captain was involved in a crash just before the finish of stage 12 due inattentiveness by Sylvain Chavanel (IAM) and so missed another chance to win on a stage where a pretty hard course had already left many riders behind.
The victory in Reims on stage 6 ws one of the great moments for Greipel who also describes his title defence at the German Championships in Baunatal as a special event.
Greipel made a real coup in the final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg. "This solo victory was a little strange," said the German who was part of a nine-rider breakaway and still had enough power to take his first solo win as a professional on the undulating course.
The other wins in his string of 16 victories were achieved in the usual manner in the bunch sprints. He took his first win in January at the Tour Down Under and took the final one on October 3 in the Münsterland Giro where he ended his long season.
For the 2015 season which he will start at the Mallorca Challenge, Greipel wants two things. "I just want to stay healthy and still be very consistent throughout the year."
The two-time German champion who will do the Giro in May, again selected the Tour de France as his big goal. "There we want to shine with the entire sprint train," said Greipel who again underlined the importance of the support he receives from teammate and friend Marcel Sieberg.
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