|
|
RACE REPORTS: VUELTA A ESPAÑA STAGE 4: GREIPEL TAKES THE WIN
Road Bike Action & AFP
September 1, 2009
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
German Andre Greipel of the Columbia-HTC team headed a four-man sprint to win the treacherous 225km fourth stage of the Vuelta a España in the Netherlands on Tuesday. Greipel beat Belgian Wouter Weylandt, and the German duo of Bert Grabsch and Marcel Sieberg to the line just moments after around 40 riders, including overall leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, suffered a huge pile-up just 2km from the finish. But Cancellara, of the Saxo Bank team, managed to retain the race leader's gold jersey in the overall standings.
"It was an astonishing finish but that's the race," said Greipel. On a wet road, several riders at the head of the peloton slipped coming into a roundabout taking with them many more, and leaving only six free to continue uncontested. The stage had taken place under continuous rainy conditions and spills were commonplace throughout the day.
In the race, there was a breakaway by Dutchman Lars Boom, Uzbek Serguei Lagutin, Germany's Dominik Roels and Spaniard Javier Ramirez after 20km, the quartet building up a lead of 11 minutes. But they were reeled back in 12km from the finishing line thanks largely to the determination of the sprinter-heavy teams, notably the Quick Step outfit of Tom Boonen, who lies fourth in the overall standings. Boonen, however, was brought down in the final pile-up alongside Cancellara and Spain's Alejandro Valverde. The fact that the incident took place less than 3km from the line meant that the riders involved in the crash were given the same time as the winner.
The fifth stage will start in the Spanish city of Taragona on Thursday, with the teams and riders moving to Spain – the spiritual home of the Vuelta after their detour into northern Europe that has seen the stages attended by hundreds of thousands of fans.
Vuelta a España Stage 4, 225km
1. André Greipel (Ger/Columbia-HTC)5:43:05
2. Wouter Weylandt (Bel/Quick Step) s.t.
3. Bert Grabsch (Ger/Columbia-HTC)
4. Marcel Sieberg (Ger/Columbia-HTC)
5. Marco Velo (Ita/Quick Step)
6. Matteo Tosatto (Ita/Quick Step)
7. Adam Hansen (Aus/Columbia-HTC)
8. Jürgen Roelandts (Bel/Silence-Lotto)
9. Linus Gerdemann (Ger/Milram)
10. Thomas Rohregger (Aut/Milram)
Overall Classification After Stage 4
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi/Saxo Bank) 15:12:38
2. Tom Boonen (Bel/Quick Step) @ .09
3. Bert Grabsch (Ger/Columbia-HTC) @ .11
4. André Greipel (Ger/Columbia-HTC) @ s.t.
5. Tyler Farrar (USA/Garmin-Slipstream) @ .12
6. Daniele Bennati (Ita/Liquigas) @ .16
7. Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Liquigas) @ .17
8. David Garcia (Spa/Xacobeo Galicia) @ .18
9. Ivan Basso (Ita/Liquigas) @ s.t.
10. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) @ s.t.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|