Greipel sprints to stage victory in Brescia

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This year's Giro may have been a "disaster" in his own words, but today André Greipel finally had reason to smile in sunny Brescia, as the big German checked in at the sprinters' "Last Chance Hotel" and took the stage win he had so desperately sought.

It was vintage HTC-Columbia, too. Unlike the team's other victory at the 2010 Giro, when Matt Goss prevailed in a hectic scramble through Cava de' Tirreni, today's effort was planned, controlled and executed to perfection.

Despite the attention of Team Sky, Rabobank and Liquigas-Doimo in the finale, the yellow train rolled into Brescia intent on shunting any doubts of which is the strongest squad when it comes to flat stages. It was then just a case of "shake and bake" as Greipel rode off the wheel of Sky's Greg Henderson, who faded to finish fourth behind Liquigas-Doimo's Tiziano dall'Antonia.

"I'm not a machine but a human being," said Greipel. "It's because I got sick two days before the Giro that I hadn't won a stage yet but it was worth staying in the race. I've had to wait for a long time."

That double stage winner Tyler Farrar had already packed his bags and headed home was a bonus - Julian Dean's second place was evidence of what could have been if his American teammate had remained at the Giro - but today it was all about André.

The man who had harboured hopes of carrying off the Giro's points classification jersey several weeks ago has experienced a lean run at this year's race, to say the least, and during the first two weeks was thwarted by the likes of Farrar, Wouter Weylandt and the many breakaways that have stayed away to steal the sprinters' glory.

But in Brescia, nestled in the heart of the Lombardy region, that all changed for Greipel. His persistance paid off and while it was likely he would have taken the option of an early exit had he secured a stage win before today's 153km journey from Levico Terme, the big German deserves the plaudits for persisting in his toils for spoils.

"Today was the last chance for a bunch sprint finish," said Greipel. "We took the responsibility to chase the breakaway down with Sky. At the end [Marcel] Sieberg and [Frantisek] Rabon kept me in the front and got me a good position for the sprint. We experienced different weather conditions today with sun, rain and wind but the course was made of wide roads with no dangerous corners, so it went well."

And while yesterday's journey from Brunico to Peio Terme was harder than expected - by the admission of general classification contender Cadel Evans - the 153km on offer today must surely have been the day off the riders with hopes of overall victory were hoping for.

A lounge chair ride behind HTC-Columbia's big units as Caisse d'Epargne kept its man David Arroyo tucked safely out of trouble's way and Liquigas-Doimo gathered near the front to ensure Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali came to no harm meant that those behind could relax somewhat and enjoy the spectacular scenery on offer throughout Lombardy.

Consequently, there were no changes to the general classification as Arroyo, Basso, Evans, Sastre and Porte made it safely through the day - a proper transition day - that started in rain but finished in sunshine that shone brightest on a big German from Rostock.

"It was a pretty quiet stage," said Arroyo. "After the first hill 5km after the start, the situation was pretty much under control. We'll see what happens tomorrow. We don't want to let Nibali, Basso and Evans go. We'll defend the jersey."

Gotta be in it to win it

During today's stage, the name Robbie McEwen was mentioned frequently; unfortunately the Australian maestro took the road back to Belgium rather than the high roads over the mountains that have featured in the last few days of racing but the point was clear - this type of day suited a rider like him.

With Tyler Farrar missing and Wouter Weylandt recovering from illness at home in Belgium, it was time to step up for the likes of Greipel, Graeme Brown, Henderson and Danilo Hondo, who took a fine second place in yesterday's stage.

HTC-Columbia liked what it saw for its man and ensured that the two-man break, which went away after 21km of racing, failed to reach Brescia intact, unlike other occasions during this year's Giro.

Oliver Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Alan Marangoni (Colnago-CSF Inox) constituted the lucky pair given free leash to go explore the area surrounding the gorgeous Lake Garda sans peloton.

As is the case for many of HTC-Columbia's victories however, the team began its labours early and could be seen at the front of the peloton for most of the day. Again the likes of Fratisek Rabon, Marcel Sieburg and Vicente Reynes were called into action early, this time with a search and destroy mission to complete on the daring pair in front.

So it was that with 48km of the stage expired, the gap had only increased to 3:08 and you just knew that HTC-Columbia was going to keep a very tight leash all day, evidenced by the fact that almost every time the TV cameras were on the peloton there were at least two riders in yellow within the first five of the bunch.

While stage five was a prime example of the bunch not organising its chase properly, today's pursuit was timed to perfection. A gap of 2:05 remained with 38.5km remaining, the break's advantage on the road only 1.5km. By 20km to go that had been whittled down to 1:25 and passing the banner for the final 10km it had shrunk further to 50 seconds.

Team Sky had mobilised the troops and sent its man Henderson into battle, while Rabobank still had Brown to work for and, of course, Hondo could grab onto the coat tails for a lucky dip adventure amongst the fast guys.

Leaving itself three kilometres to open the throttle and shift the train into top gear, The HTC-Columbia Express didn't pause to wave to Kaisen as he was swallowed into the peloton's vortex, with Marangoni suffering the same fate just a kilometre later.

And then something happened that has been rare at this Giro: Greipel kicked, and kicked hard in the finale, coming over the top of Henderson and leaving Dean in his wake. While he and the rest of the cycling world had waited 17 stages to see it, there's no doubting it made him smile.

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