Andre Greipel upset about his Classics performance
After a terrific start to the new season, Andre Greipel could not continue his winning streak at the Classics.
He opened the 2012 winning account with a victory at the first race of the season, Cancer Council Helpline Classic and also bagged three stages at the UCI Inaugural event, Santos Tour Down Under.
The German sprinter continued his winning momentum at the Tour of Oman and proved his mettle at the 1st and the 4th stages of the Oman race.
However, the 29-year-old could not perform to his calibre at the Classics races and summarised his season as, “Frustrating!”
The cyclist started riding professionally in 2002 and represented TEAG Team Köstritzer for 2002-04 seasons before accepting a one-year offer from Team Wiesenhof in 2005.
He penned a deal with T-Mobile Team in 2006 and helped the team with numerous victories throughout 2010.
Andre became a member of the Belgian side, Team Lotto in 2011, and is currently riding for the second consecutive season with the team.
Not only Andre, but the whole Team Lotto squad has struggled during the 2012 classics season. The main reason behind the team’s dipping performance is because of the injuries and illness that affected most of its cyclists.
The team could not send its best squad for the event and was hence deprived of victories.
Andre crashed during the Scheldeprijs, which injured his hand and raised suspicions towards his inclusion at the Paris-Nice.
He managed to ride the French Grand Tour but could not match the likes of the in-form Tom Boonen, Sebastien Turgot and Alessandro Ballan.
Tom noted, “I had to fight against five punctures within 25 kilometres,” and he could not secure any better than the 77th spot with a deficit of 13 minutes on Boonen.
The German appreciated the efforts made by Boonen in the Classics season, “But one must also without jealousy recognize that Tom Boonen was in a class of his own in the difficult spring Classics, and that therefore there was nothing for us,” Greipel wrote on his personal website.
Andre will now be seen in action at the Tour of Turkey (April 22-29) and he is positive to add some Classics wins in his bag.
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