Greipel wins the sprint in Bodrum

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André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) survived a tough, hilly ride in the sun to win the longest stage of the 2013 Tour of Turkey in Bodrum, twenty-four hours after clinching his eighth stage victory in the Turkish race in Marmaris.

To make it nine the massive German was again strong enough to stay with the best on the day’s testing first category climb before using his speed to beat Italy’s Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and up-and-coming fellow-German Nikias Arndt (Argos-Shimano).

Left at the front with only one team-mate, Björn Thurau, Eritrean rookie Natnael Berhane (Europcar) still showed enough guts and class to retain his overall leader’s turquoise jersey in the coastal town renamed in 1972 after the ottoman sailor Turgut Reis who was born there in 1485.

“It was a more difficult win to get because it split up at the front directly after the start”, Greipel commented after the stage.
“We found ourselves in a group of about fifty riders on the long climb. Everybody had the pressure on. It was a really hard climb but I managed to stay with them. In the end, everybody was attacking, nobody was riding anymore. We were chasing the break down with the other teams. We did our job. I’m happy I could finish the work.”

The German has been left with fewer teammates than usual after Olivier Kaisen and Jonas Vangenechten were forced to withdraw due to crashes.

“They were important to me. Oli is a big engine to chase the breaks, and Jonas was there for me in the sprints. It’s not easy without them. I have always won some sprints on my own. I have the best lead-out train in the world, with guys like Adam Hansen, Jurgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg and Greg Henderson," Greipel said.

"I hope to have them with me in the Tour de France. I know I can trust them and it can make it easier when they’re around. But when they’re not, I also have the instinct to do my own sprint.”

Another day in the sun

Out of Marmaris, where the 178 riders left in the race enjoyed the sun and the breathtaking landscapes, the early climb split the bunch in two parts and Greipel was escorted by Gert Dockx and Hansen.

After a battle that saw Sergey Grechyn (Torku Seker Spor) consolidating his red King of the Mountains jersey competition, an eight-man breakaway went clear of the first peloton of 70 riders. They were Sébastien Duret (Bretagne-Séché), Guillaume Levarlet (Cofidis), Robinson Chalapud (Team Colombia), Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Marc de Maar (Unitedhealthcare), Chris Juul-Jensen (Saxo-Tinkoff), Nazim Bekirci (Torku Seker Spor) and Andrea Pagani (Bardiani Valvole-CSF), who was the highest ranked rider overall. As the only Europcar rider in the chasing group alongside Berhane, Thurau had to do an enormous amount of work in order to limit the gap but fortunately other riders helped out too.

The last escapee to remain out front was Belkov. After a strong solo ride, the Russian was reeled in with eight kilometers to go. Berhane was attentive enough when Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) put the hammer down with the intention of carrying the flag for Australia on ANZAC Day.

Andrey Kashechkin (Astana), Andreas Schillinger (NetApp) and Grechyn tried their luck for the stage victory but failed to stay away.

Coming back to form ahead of the Giro d’Italia and boosted by his second place in Marmaris, Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) was the last man to try and anticipate the sprint. But Greipel passed him in sight of the finis line.

“I knew this finish and I was confident that I could win”, said Greipel who was aware of the arising in the ranks of the sprinters of his young compatriot Nikias Arndt from Argos-Shimano.

“I got a really good lead out but maybe I showed up a little bit too early”, Arndt said.

“Greipel waited a bit and went very hard on the right side of the road, where I was. Third is a good result after yesterday’s second place but today, my chances of winning were higher than yesterday and I feel a little frustrated.”

Runner-up Matteo Trentin of Omega Pharma-Quick Step didn’t have any regrets.

“Since Greipel is above the rest, I won the bunch sprint today!”, the Italian joked.

“I came back from behind. It was the best tactic. With this slightly downhill finale, you gathered more speed from behind than by launching the sprint. But even if I had acted differently, I wouldn’t have beaten Greipel. For me, second is a good result. It’s a satisfaction at the end of an extremely hard stage. We went full gas until the first climb… and full gas afterwards too!”

Stage six is new in the history of the Tour of Turkey. It features the uphill finish to the old house where the Virgin Mary supposedly spent the last days of her life above the ancient city of Ephesus. It’ll be another tough challenge for Berhane as he tries to defend his race lead.