Andre Greipel warns his opponents after he claims the Down Under Classic
Andre Greipel of Lotto-Belisol sailed through the finish-line ahead of many other favourites at the Cancer Council Classic 2012, also known as Down Under Classic.
Down Under Classic is scheduled two days before the Santos Tour. The winner of the race gets to wear the Ochre leader’s jersey on stage 1, scheduled on Tuesday, January 17th 2012, Adelaide, Australia.
Matt Goss and Mark Renshaw are definitely two favourites of the race, with the advantage of the home turf on their side.
However, it will not be an easy task considering the fact that mighty riders, like Daniele Bennati, Alessandro Petacchi and Andre Greipel, are also lined up for the event.
Greipel has already warned his rivals by claiming an easy win at the Down Under Classic. He was completely invincible during the final sprint of the race.
The first attack was launched by Team Sky’s rider, Edvald Boasson Hagen. He was looking good before Greipel took the victory away from him in the final moments of the race.
Andre stated that he is lucky to have Greg Henderson in the team, who does not only help him during the race but also during the training sessions.
He briefed, “We didn’t sleep in the winter, I tried to get a lead out train for this season and we got Greg Henderson in the team”.
He also thanked Marcel Sieberg, Adam Hansen and Jurgen Roelandts and acknowledged their contribution in his success.
Greipel cited, "I think the guys were awesome. I just needed to stay on the wheels. I saw Rabobank and Sky - they couldn’t pass so I think that meant we have a lot of horsepower in our team”.
The 29-year-old believes that the victory will help the whole Lotto-Belisol squad, especially the young riders for the season ahead.
Edvald Boasson Hagen of Sky Procycling and Heinrich Haussler of Garmin-Barracuda occupied the second and third podium spots.
Jose Joaquin Rojas, Steele Von Hoff and Jonathan Cantwell secured the fourth, fifth and sixth places at the event.
Robbie McEwen of Team GreenEdge occupied the top position for his side after a 15th place finish.
In order to make its way in the 2012, the Australian team needs to perform better because the competition will only become tougher as the year progresses.
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