Patrick Gretsch wins most aggressive jersey at Tour of Utah as team-mate Van Garderen wins stage
German cyclist Patrick Gretsch of team HTC- Highroad showed an impressive performance at the14.5 kilometre stage 3 of Tour of Utah. The sprinter finished the race 10 seconds behind the stage leader and earned himself the most aggressive jersey in the Tour
of Utah, 2011.
The 24-year-old was looking impressive after he finished the stage in 17:43 at third position as his team-mate Tejay Van Garderen won the stage with a lead of ten seconds over Gretsch while Levi Leipheimer of team RadioShack finished second.
Gretsch who has been to podium two times in 2008 and 2009 for World Under-23 time trials and also holds the honour of being a former Junior World Champion five times shared his thoughts on winning the most aggressive rider’s jersey as he said, “Sure I am
happy with the jersey.” He further added that, “For me as a time trialist, it [the stage] was one of the reasons why I am here; I did all that I could and I am satisfied with that. I crossed my fingers and hoped that my time stated at first, but it didn’t.
As long as the win stayed within the team we are all happy.”
Gretsch spent three years with his previous team Thuringer Engine Team and finally joined HTC-Highroad in 2010 who has announced its disassociation with the cycling world by the end of this year. Gretsch was really disappointed with the ending of HTC and
will now be riding with Skil Shimano as he expressed his thoughts, “I will ride for Skil-Shimano next year, it is a team with a big future and I am really happy with that.”
The German cyclist mentioned that he is not surprised by his team-mate’s performance as he knew that Tejay was in great shape and is amongst the favourites to win the home Tour of Utah, 2011. Tejay won the Best Young Rider at stage 3 and is currently at
the 5th slot after stage 3 general classifications at this year’s Tour of Utah.
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