Andre Greipel Claims Stage 2 in Tour of Poland
German sprinter Andre Greipel won the second stage of the Tour of Poland on Monday, ahead of Australian rider Allan Davis and Belgium's Wouter Weylandt.
Stage 2 in the race took riders from Rawa Mozowiecka to Dabrowa Gornicza, a stretch of 240km through southern Poland.
The stretch, forming the longest stage of this year's Tour of Poland, was uphill throughout, but contained no sharp inclines for explosive climbers.
Instead, it was those riders with a knack for persevering over long climbs that were able to prosper in Stage 2. And despite the incline, the relatively flat finish encouraged a sprint finish.
It was during the final sprint that Greipel, who rides for Team HTC-Columbia, where he is partnered by Mark Cavendish, timed his attack to perfection to claim the stage win.
Before that, four breakaway riders had taken charge of the stage: Gabriel Rasch of the Cervelo TestTeam, Omega Pharma Lotto's Tom Stubbe, Polska BGZ's Bartolomiej Matysiak and Lampre Farnese Vini's Marcin Sapa.
These four broke from the peloton in the first kilometres of the race and earned a lead of nearly 11 minutes after 80km.
But with 160km to go in the stage, the quartet's lead began to diminish. With 15km to go, the two Polish riders, Matysiak and Sapa, attacked once again, egged on by the lively home crowd.
Soon, however, they were caught by the peloton ahead of the finish line, and none of the breakaway quartet finished in the top-10 of the stage.
Instead, it was Greipel who managed to time the launch of his finish just right, crossing the finish line after 6:02.52. "I'm very satisfied with this victory," the German said after his stage win.
Greipel, who claimed an impressive 20 stage wins during last year's season, second only to Cavendish in total stage wins that year, is hoping to win more stages during the final five stages of the Tour of Poland this week.
"It was an arrival suited to my skills; it was really a long, hot day that truly put the pack to the test. In the final I had to be very careful and choose the best position from which to launch the sprint," said Greipel.
"I'm happy for the stage success; for me and for the team this is a good result. I'm more or less as fit as I was last year and in the next few days if I get the chance I'm going to try for a repeat."
Team Astana's Davis, who won the points classification in last year's Tour of Poland, finished second and is now tied with Greipel and Stage 1 winner Jacopo Guarnieri at the top of the overall standings.
Allan Davis, who now holds the yellow jersey, was satisfied with his performance on Monday. "I'm very happy with my race," he explained after the stage.
"I hadn't raced for a long time and in these first two days in two sprints weren't for me, with arrivals on downhills which favoured riders like Greipel, I did my best. Now I'll take it day by day attempting partial success and trying to hang on to these two jerseys for as long as possible," added Davis.
Davis came third in Sunday's opening stage. If his form continues, an overall victory will be within reach for the Australian.
Weylandt, who won his first stage in the Vuelta a Espana in 2008, will be happy with reaching third place in the stage.
The Team QuickStep rider won a stage in this year's Giro d'Italia. At only 25, he will be a name to keep an eye out for on the UCI ProTour in years to come.
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