Lotto Belisol rider takes break until Tour of Turkey
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Germany's Andre Greipel(Image credit: Isabelle Duchesne)
An unhappy Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol Team) after a crash(Image credit: Photopress.be)
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) gets checked by the medics(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol Team)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Andre Greipel summed up his Classics season in one word: “Frustrating!” Neither he nor his Lotto Belisol team were able to present themselves as they expected, with his best finish being 12th in the Scheldeprijs.
The team was hit by injuries and illness, so that it couldn't send its best team to the races. “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.
A crash after the finish line in Scheldeprijs left him with a sore hand and questionable for Paris-Roubaix, but he was able to ride in “the hell of the north.” Unfortunately “I had to fight against five punctures within 25 kilometers”, and he was able to finish only 77th, at 13 minutes down.
“All in all, my conclusion: frustrating!”
The German sprinter now has a racing break before starting up again the Tour of Turkey, April 22-29, where “we hopefully have better cards again.” Last year he won one stage in Turkey, and in 2010 won five stages plus the points jersey.
Meanwhile, he will relax with his family at home in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, where he moved from his long-time base near Cologne, Germany.
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