Greipel takes win number 20 in Paris-Bourges

German André Greipel claimed his 20th win of the season in Paris-Bourges, powering to the line ahead of Saxo Bank's JJ Haedo and Alexandre Usov (Cofidis). The Columbia-HTC rider continued his winning ways that propelled him to four stage wins and the overall points classification in last month's Tour of Spain.

"I never expected to get so many wins this season, particularly after a tough beginning to the year," said Greipel. "But today I won again, even though we had to work really hard to get it and there were attacks all the way through.

"My teammates got me in the right position, and I did a very long sprint, from about 300 metres to go. Haedo almost got past me, but when he tried to overtake me he had to move out, and the wind made it harder for him. So I eventually beat him by about half a bike length."

An early break of 20 riders stayed away for approximately 120 kilometres, gaining a maximum advantage of 2:30 over the peloton, but the escape was absorbed with 11 kilometres remaining. Greipel said he hadn't really expected a bunch sprint to materialise. "Fortunately we had two guys in there, [Morris] Possoni and [Vicente] Reynes, the break's lead stayed at around two and a half minutes, and so we didn't have to work so much. Then the best moment for me came when Bernie [Eisel] said to me, 'Hey, relax, we'll get the break back and we'll get you to that sprint, too'."

Following Bernhard Eisel's victory in Paris-Bourges in 2008, Greipel's triumph is Columbia-HTC's second straight victory in the French classic.