Greipel bags Reims stage at Tour
July 10, 2014
Andre Greipel won the charge to the line in Reims on Thursday after the 194-kilometer (120-mile) ride from Arras. The Lotto Belisol rider pipped Norwegian Alexander Kristoff and home favorite Samuel Dumoulin to the finish.
Greipel's countryman Marcel Kittel, already three times a stage winner at this year's tour, suffered a puncture shortly before the end, dropping well back.
"This was a big relief. There was a lot of pressure on our shoulders, after things didn't quite work out, for a variety of reasons, in the opening days," 31-year-old Greipel said. "Four German stage winners and Germany in the World Cup final: this is a really great week."
Greipel, like Kittel, is a muscular sprint specialist who's unlikely to feature in the hunt for the grand prize at the Tour. Many sprinters tend not to fare so well on the long climbs and mountainous stages that usually prove crucial for any would-be Tour winner.
Nibali still wearing yellow
Current yellow jersey holder, Vincenzo Nibali, maintained his overall lead, rolling in close behind the fast finishers on Thursday. The Astana Pro Team rider currently has just a two-second lead over teammate Jakob Fuglsang, with Slovakian Peter Sagan next in line, within a minute of the leader.
Team Sky's lead rider, 2013 winner Chris Froome, returned to England for medical treatment after injury forced him to withdraw from the Tour on Wednesday. Froome said on Twitter that pain in his wrist meant he couldn't control his bike and said he was "devastated" to withdraw. Team Sky's de facto leader since Froome's injury, Richie Porte of Australia, was less than two minutes off the overall lead after the sixth stage.
Friday's seventh stage, like Thursday's run from Arras to Reims, is a largely flat route that could favor sprint specialists come the closing stages. However, it is also the second-longest of this year's Tour, running 234.5 kilometers from Epernay to Nancy.
msh/crh (AP, dpa, SID)