Greipel Takes Second Consecutive Stage of Tour

News & Results

07/5/2012| 0 comments
by Gerald Churchill
Team Lotto-Greipel's Andre Greipel (Germany) powers to second Tour de France stage victory in stage 5 of the 2012 Tour de France. Photo Fotoreporter Sirotti.
Team Lotto-Greipel's Andre Greipel (Germany) powers to second Tour de France stage victory in stage 5 of the 2012 Tour de France. Photo Fotoreporter Sirotti.

Greipel Takes Second Consecutive Stage of Tour

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has taken his second stage of the Tour de France in as many days.

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has taken his second consecutive stage of the Tour de France. Greipel took a bunch sprint to win the flat, 196.5-km run from Rouen to Saint-Quentin in 4:41:28. Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) finished second, and Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) took third. Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) remains the maillot jaune.

Only two km went by before the break du jour formed. Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat), Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), and Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) sallied off of the front. The gang of four ran up a lead that maxed out at 5:40, but after the intermediate sprint at 109 km the sprinters' teams got down to the business of reeling in the escapees.

With three km left, the fugitives led by just a few seconds. A crash occurred, and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) went down. Ahead, Ghyselinck attacked his companions. Urtasun overtook the Belgian and looked like he might hold on for the win, but the peloton overtook him in the last 100 m.

After the stage, Farrar attempted to enter the Argos-Shimano bus to take on Tom Veelers, whom the American accused of fouling him and causing him to crash. Garmin-Sharp personnel intervened to head off a confrontation. Veelers said, "Tyler wanted to get in the wheel of Koen de Kort, but I was already there. He didn't respect my train, but that's his problem. I get why he's upset, because a crash is never very pleasant."

In the overall, Cancellara leads Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) by 0:07. Stage 6, a flat, 207.5-km run from Epernay to Metz, will be the sprinters' last chance to shine until Stage 13. The stage will be hotly contested. Who will win it? Mark Cavendish (Sky)? Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol)? Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD)? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!

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