For the second year in a row, André Greipel will line up in the Tour de France with the German champion's jersey on his shoulder after his defended his title in today's road race. Having only done today's race in his Lotto Belisol jersey, the German is proud to wear his national symbol for another year.

For the second year in a row André Greipel took the German national road title, this time in Baunatal. Teammate Marcel Sieberg stood by his side again. The Gorilla was the fastest in a group sprint of about fifty riders. He beat John Degenkolb and Phil Bauhaus.

"There were three small climbs on the lap, so it wasn't exactly flat," he said. "It rained a few times, but luckily mostly the roads were dry. Marcel Sieberg and I didn't need to do anything. Giant-Shimano controlled the race. We tried to be in every group where they had a guy in as well. That went quite well. Sibi was in front for a while. We were only with two, but still we felt we had control of the situation.

"In the end it came down to a sprint of a reduced peloton of about fifty riders. Sieberg set me up and I started to sprint in the last 250 meters. I'm happy I could hold off John Degenkolb. It was perfect again, just like last year. It was a special moment.

"Today I was riding in the red Lotto Belisol jersey for one day, but of course I was hoping I could put back on that German jersey. I'm happy and proud to wear it for another year. It's great also Jens Debusschere and Jolien D'hoore won their national championship race today. That's a perfect day for the team. Now I have two days with the family before I head off to the Tour."