German hopes Lotto Belisol will give him his leadout train
Andre Greipel may be one of the top sprinters in the sport but, as is the case with rivals such as Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin Barracuda), and in contrast with dedicated sprint teams like GreenEdge and Argos Shimano, he is unsure as to how much support he’ll have in the Tour de France.
Greipel told VeloNation on Saturday morning that he wasn’t yet clear on what the Lotto Belisol team would decide to do.
It will feature GC contenders like Jurgen Van den Broeck, and a determination of what type of supporting riders will be called on for the race is yet to be made.
“If my leadout train comes with me to the Tour, then of course we have good chances,” he said in the video interview below. “The last decision is with the team directors. I just hope I can take my guys.”
Two years ago Greipel won five stages in the race. This time round, he triumphed on day two but has otherwise been on the podium. He could in theory have got up on Friday’s stage but decided to gun it far, far sooner than the final 500 metres.
The tactic showed that he isn’t afraid to take it to the other riders, making him more versatile than the pure sprinters. But it was still a peculiar decision.
Greipel explained that he had thought the climbs later in the stage were harder than they turned out to be. He also didn’t realize that the conditions would be as tough for a move to get across to the three riders up ahead, namely Philip Deignan, Maxim Belkov (Katusha) and Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).
“With a headwind it changed a lot. The wind came all the time from the front, even when we changed direction. It was maybe not the smartest thing, but why not try something different?” he said.