Greipel's plan to test himself on Olympic circuit hampered by road closures

Andre Greipel picked the wrong day to attempt a reconnaissance of the route for the Olympic road race, with road works held up by bad weather closing access to the course.

Greipel was in Surrey on Wednesday, along with German teammates Danilo Hondo, John Degenkolb and Marcel Sieberg with the day holding much promise. The 15.5km Box Hill circuit will be raced nine times on July 28 in the bid for Olympic gold.

"Ready to see the Olympic circuit," the German tweeted which was immediately responded to via the twittersphere with warnings of the road closures.

Perhaps the warnings went unheeded with Greipel soon following up with:
"Boxhill closed? Hidden camera somewhere," with an image of Hondo, Degenkolb and Sieberg standing beside their bikes behind the barricades blocking the road.

Wednesday's misfortune follows reports that the Italian women's team was also denied access to the road due to the same closures.

Griepel is one of the few top sprinters not at the Giro d'Italia which begins this weekend. He is instead looking to emulate his 2011 efforts at the Tour de France, where he won his maiden stage at the Grand Boucle, before representing Germany at the London Games.

 

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1