Andre Greipel wins the fourth stage at the Tour of Oman 2012
Andre Greipel continued his tremendous form to claim the second stage win at the Tour of Oman.
The German was too fast for his Slovakian competitor, Peter Sagan and crossed the finish-line in a fastest time of 3 hours, 37 minutes and 2 seconds.
Greipel now has six stage wins in his bag, comprising the Cancer Council Helpline Classic, three stages at the Tour Down Under and two stage wins at the Tour of Oman.
Team Lotto-Belisol’s rider was leading the final general classifications by the end of third stage and had a lead of 2 seconds over Peter Sagan and 8 seconds over Nacer Bouhanni.
His brilliant effort at the 142.5 kilometre chase to Al Wadi Al Kabir not only helped him with the stage win but also strengthened his grip at the overall classification.
Andre has now extended his lead over the main competitors. He is now 6 seconds ahead of Peter Sagan and 18 seconds ahead of the French cyclist Nacer Bouhanni.
The cyclist briefed after the race, “It didn’t look like I was dropping out [on the climb], I was dropped, Adam Hansen and Sieberg were waiting for me, and they kept talking to me, saying that I could do it”.
He continued, “Adam Hansen brought me back to the front group, and then they pulled the breakaway back and I just tried to find my position for the sprint”.
Belgian rider Klaas Lodewijck of BMC Racing Team won the first and the second sprint of the race and secured 6 important UCI points.
Peter Sagan, Tony Gallopin and Nacer Bouhanni were the three best young riders on the fourth day in Oman.
Sagan is also leading the young rider’s classifications with a lead of 12 seconds over Nacer Bouhanni. Tony Gallopin of Team RadioShack-Nissan is holding the third overall spot at the event.
Klaas Lodewijck, Alexandre Lemair and Vladimir Isaichev are holding the first, the second and the third positions at the Combativity classification.
Team RadioShack-Nissan, Team FDJ-Bigmat and Rabobank Cycling Team are the top three teams after the stage 4 classifications.
With six stage victories already in his back pocket, Andre is now aiming the overall classifications at the race.
Greipel will keep a close eye on Peter Sagan and Nacer Bouhanni, as the duo is not far away from climbing the top podium spot on Sunday.
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