Andre Greipel added to his record tally of stage wins in the Tour Down Under when he won the final criterium in the streets of Adelaide for the third year in a row. However, a late puncture for Adam Hansen forced a change in the Lotto Belisol plans which had to launch its world-famous lead-out later than usual.
Andre Greipel remains the man to beat in the Tour Down Under sprints after he took a 16th win in the race's history by beating his rivals in today's final criterium in Adelaide. Holding off the Omega Pharma-Quick Step duo Mark Renshaw and Andrew Fenn, the German champion was again in a class of his own when he added a second win in this year's race to his growing tally.
Again Lotto Belisol proved that they have the best lead-out train in the world. Despite the absence of usual lead-out man Greg Henderson whose injury kept him out of the opening WorldTour race of the season, the combination Adam Hansen-Marcel Sieberg-Jens Debusschere-Jurgen Roelandts-Andre Greipel completely dominated the sprints this week and always delivered their star sprinter perfectly.
However, the team had to change its plans in the hectic finale today as a mishap forced them to think differently.
"It was really good teamwork today," Greipel said." I actually didn't need to do anything until the last two hundred meters, the guys took care of the rest. It was pretty hard to stay together on the circuit. Adam Hansen had a puncture in the last lap so we had to wait as long as possible to move to the front. Marcel Sieberg took the responsibility then to set up the lead-out train with 1,2 kilometers to go, that was the right decision. We had a lot of horsepower in the final kilometer."
"There was a long, straight headwind section," Sieberg added. "We lost Adam Hansen with a puncture with about three kilometres to go so we had to wait a little more. It was perfect for us today and we take confidence, it's a WorldTour race, when we are good here, we know we can be good in Europe."
"Chapeau to my team-mates, they rode incredibly fast so I could save myself for the last moment," said Greipel. "This is a very nice victory for us, I had fast legs today and I’m confident in my capacities these days.
"It was difficult to keep the peloton together but everyone knew where we’d start the lead out. This new circuit is really fast but we have enough experience in the team to adjust ourselves to a new course. I’m really happy to come out of the Santos Tour Down Under as a winner again."
With Greipel's two wins, the team had a very successful week that also brought success for usual domestique Hansen. In his home race, he took home the mountains jersey after wearing it for the entire race and he also finished in the top 10 overall. Being equal on time with Geraint Thomas (Sky), however, his puncture and bad position in today's stage saw him drop from 8th to 9th.
"I'm really happy with this second victory, it gives confidence," Greipel said. "Staying healthy is the main goal, the rest will come. I'm super happy with my teammates, everybody had his part in the victory. This was a successful Tour Down Under for us. We have Hansen in the top ten and he also took the mountain jersey, so it has been a nice week. It's a strength of this team that we all help each other, that's what counts."
Greipel will next line up in the Tour of Qatar.
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