Andre Greipel loses grip on the Ochre Jersey during the stage 4 of the Santos Tour
Andre Greipel could not continue his dominance on the Ochre jersey during the day four of the Santos Tour Down Under. He lost important minutes on his main rivals and finished the race 7 minutes behind the leaders.
Greipel started off well, claiming the first 25.3 kilometre climb at the Kersbrook and overcame Michael Matthews and Jose Joaquin Rojas.
However, the second climb at the Mengler Hill brought disappointment for the German sprinter and he lost crucial ground to the main podium contenders.
Martin Kohler of Team BMC and Matthews of Team Rabobank were quick enough to pounce on the opportunity and extended their overall lead.
Martin is now leading the stage 4 general classifications, with an overall time of 15:03:34, with Michael 2 seconds behind, at the second spot.
Kohler briefed after the race, "I didn't expect to be back in the lead but we dropped Andre Greipel in the climb and then we were riding hard to make the gap bigger".
"Tomorrow there will be 10 or 15 riders contesting the win at the top of Willunga Hill. It's going to be very hard and I don't know if I can keep this lead or not but I'm already happy with what I'm doing here. Our team BMC feels at home with all the support
we get but of course we are the team of Cadel Evans," he continued.
The cyclist was leading the overall classifications after the end of stage 3 and also added the stage 1 and stage 3 victories in his bag.
One more victory for the 29-year-old would have made him a clear winner of the event
With almost 50 kilometres left in the race, it seemed as if it was Greipel versus the whole peloton.
A bunch of more than 50 cyclists blocked his way and Andre could only achieve the 55th spot, which resulted in a huge drop down on his overall classifications position.
Greipel has now dropped to the 49th position after the stage 4 classifications. He is 7 minutes and 34 seconds behind the race leaders.
It appears quite difficult for the young German sprinter to claim the podium spot at the 2012 edition of the Santos Tour Down Under.
Tags: