Greipel grabs another stage in Belgium

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Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) has won his second straight stage at the Tour of Belgium and added to his general classification lead. Unlike the previous stage which required a look at the photo finish camera to confirm the winner, today Greipel was a definitive victor over Danilo Napolitano (Acqua & Sapone), who also finished as runner-up on the opening stage. Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team) rounded out the top three.

"Today I am really happy with my sprint. This finish does not lie, only the strongest wins in Knokke-Heist," said Greipel regarding his ninth win of the season. "Eight hundred metres out I was led perfectly by [teammate] Greg [Henderson], who was on the wheel of Jacopo Guarnieri. I could sprint the perfect sprint and started at the right moment, although it was more difficult than it looked."

The Belgian ProTeam is pleased to win on home soil, and the victories here may pave the way to wins in the upcoming Tour de France. "This stage race is ideal for the sprint train. We have already gained a lot of confidence and hopefully tomorrow we can do a good sprint in Beveren."

With the time bonuses for the stage winner factored in, Greipel now leads Napolitano by eight seconds while Guarnieri moves into third overall at 16 seconds.

The 170.7km stage from Lochristi to Knokke-Heist was dominated by a five man break comprised of Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil-DCM), Aleksejs Saramotins (Cofidis), Ramon Sinkeldam (Argos-Shimano), Jay Thomson (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) and Mark McNally (An Post-Sean Kelly). The escape formed 30km into the stage and their lead grew to more than five minutes before the eventual catch late in the stage.

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