Greipel wins stage 1 in Tour of Luxembourg

Andre Greipel may have angered the Giro d'Italia race organisers when he withdrew from the Giro d'Italia having won stage 12 of the grand tour but the German sprinter delighted the Tour of Luxembourg by taking stage 1 ahead of Tinkoff's Adam Blythe and Amaury Capiot (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

Greipel dedicated the victory to teammate Stig Broeckx who remains in an induced coma following surgery related to a motocycle caused crash at the Tour of Belgium.

"In the current circumstances, it isn't always easy to gear the mind towards racing and to ride aggressively, which is the frame of mind you need to have during the sprints. It is difficult during these times to always be in race mode, but I think that this victory today was an important way for us to show our support for Stig. It also shows how we come together as a team and keep fighting," Greipel said of his 26-year-old Belgian teammate.

The German sprinter had his usual leadout men Greg Hadersen and Marcel Sieberg back after the duo missed the Giro with the trio quickly clicking back into gear and ensuring the team's 12th win of the 2016 season.

"I think we performed a textbook lead-out, and it went just like we had planned. I was really happy that I could be there right at the finish to complete all the hard work of the team," Greipel said. "The stage today was a bit cat and mouse with the breakaway at times, but in the end, the team took responsibility to chase it down and set up the sprint. Sander Armée pulled hard at the front to catch the breakaway, but the finale was rather sketchy due to the wet roads and many corners."

BMC's Jempy Drucker holds onto the overall race lead following his victory in the prologue. Stage 3 of the race takes the peloton from Rosport to Schifflange.

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