Cyclingpost.com - High Road's Greipel Wins Again

High Road's Greipel Wins Again

By Michael Holden
Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:36:29

Young German powerhouse Andre Greipel has stormed home to take out the second stage of the Tour Down Under.

Greipel showed that his victory in last Sunday's Down Under Classic wasn't a fluke, and won a high quality sprint in the historic town of Hahndorf.

In what was nearly a carbon copy to Tuesday's opening stage, an ever alert peloton closely monitored and controlled all breaks throughout the tough 148 kilometre trek through the Adelaide Hills.

The first attack came before even 1 kilometre of racing. Francaise Des Jeux's Yoann Offredo took off right from the starter's drop of the flag and had built up a half minute lead within 5 kilometres. By the 10 kilometre mark his lead had stretched to over a minute, as two other French riders decided join the lone Offredo.

Ag2r-La Mondiale's Stephane Poulhies and Bouygues Telecom's Nicolas Crosbie worked hard to bridge the gap and by the time they reached Offredo, the trio found themselves over 6 minutes ahead.

The peloton ensured that the gap never became unmanageable as too many teams wanted another sprint finish. That didn't stop the leading three from picking up a few bonuses along the way.
Offredo collected the first sprint points (15 km) with the pursuing Crosbie beating Poulhies to second place. The KOM sprint (45 km) was won by Poulhies whilst the second sprint (64 km) was taken out by Crosbie, ensuring none of the riders were left with nothing.

Gradually the breakaway's gap was diminishing - due to both the tough undulating nature of the course and the increased tempo of the peloton.

With 30 kilometres of racing left to go, the catch was made. However unlike yesterday, there was still enough time and distance left for a counter-attack to stick. Several riders tried their luck, but the teams of Rabobank, Credit Agricole and Team CSC would not have a bar of it.

Heading into the final kilometre, Credit Agricole took control looking for a repeat performance from Mark Renshaw who took out stage 1.

Greipel had other ideas though. Just like Sunday evening, the Team High Road rider started his sprint early. Despite the best efforts of the rest, the German couldn't be caught and Greipel was able to hold on from Rabobank's Graeme Brown with Allan Davis of UniSA-Australia taking third place.

Overall leader Renshaw came in 7th. After much deliberation and consultation between officials, the boy from Bathurst has lost his Ochre Jersey to Brown on a count back.

But with Brown, Renshaw and Greipel all on the same overall time and another bunch sprint expected tomorrow, stage 3 should certainly heat things up.

Stage Results:
1. Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road 3.46.55
2. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
3. Allan Davis (Aus) UniSA-Australia
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
5. Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana
6. Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott
7. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole
8. Aurelien Clerc (Swi) Bouygues Telecom
9. Denis Flahaut (Fra) Saunier Duval-Scott
10.Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre

General Classification after Stage 2:
1. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 7.00.18
2. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole
3. Andre Greipel (Ger) Team High Road
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne @ 0.04
5. Mickael Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis
6. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux @ 0.05
7. Allan Davis (Aus) UniSA-Australia @ 0.06
8. Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
9. Richie Porte (Aus) UniSA-Australia @ 0.08
10. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC @ 0.10

Points Classification after Stage 2:
1. Mickael Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis 12 pts
2. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 10 pts
3. Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 10 pts

Mountains Classification after Stage 2:
1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Francaise Des Jeux 20pts
2. Stephane Poulhies (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale 16pts
3. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux 12pts

Under 25 Classification after Stage 2:
1. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse D'Epargne 7.00.22
2. Yoann Offredo (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux @ 0.01
3. Richie Porte (Aus) UniSA-Australia @ 0.04