André Greipel of Omega Pharma-Lotto beat his rival Mark Cavendish of HTC-Highroad to win the sprint in Stage Ten of the 2011 Tour de France Monday—Greipel’s first Tour stage win in his first Tour.
“When I crossed the line I was just really happy. It was the biggest moment in my cycling career and it’s a special day.
The big German was overjoyed—not so much for the win, but to have beaten Cavendish head-to-head. For several years one of the world’s strongest sprinters, Greipel had the misfortune to be on the same team as “The Fastest Man in the World;” Cavendish always got the call for the HTC Tour de France team.
In order to get a shot at the Tour, Greipel had to move to Omegas Pharma-Lotto—not nearly as strong a team on sprints, but one that would support him.
“It was a big success for me just to be able to take part in this race,” Greipel said. “I’m really happy to have found a team that I could ride for in the Tour de France.
“Of course I had my own ambitions here and I tried to win a stage and now I’ve managed that. I wanted to show myself and prove that I can be competitive in this race. I’m really happy to do that.”
“It was always a hard decision that the sport directors [at my old team] had to make about selection,” Greipel continued. “The success of Mark Cavendish is incredible—he’s won 17 stage of the Tour de France—and this sort of record gave the sport directors and him the right to make the selection.
“That’s why it’s been hard for me in the past to get in to do this race. I’m grateful to Omega Pharma-Lotto for giving me a chance and I’m happy that I could win for this team.”
Stage Ten was the perfect stage for this showdown. The stage was short (158 km) but hilly, with four categorized climbs—a Cat 3, a Cat 4, a Cat 3, and then a Cat 4 in the final 15 kilometers, offering a perfect springboard to launch attacks—or to split the peloton and drop sprinters who couldn’t climb.
This is exactly what happened. After opening with a crash (de rigueur for this Tour) a six-rider break formed but was caught before the final climb. Omwega Pharma-Lotto pushed a temendous pace uop the fuinal climb, splitting the peloton and punishing the sprinters.
Another attack composed of five fast riders took off near the top of the climb. The break contained HTC’s Tony Martin, race-leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar,) green-jerseyed Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto,) Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) and Tony Gallopin (Cofidis.)
With Martin sixth, Gilbert ninth, and Voeckler in yellow, the rest of the GC contenders had no choice but to chase.
This break was caught 4.5 km from the finish, but the pace was too high for some of the sprinters, including Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi and Garmin-Cervelo’s Tyler Farrar. Mark Cavendish dropped back but fought his way through to the front before the finish.
A few more late attacks by Biel Kadri of AG2R and Vacansoleil’s Rob Ruijgh, and then by Garmin’s David Millar, kept the pace high. Most of the HTC leadout train had dropped out of the front group; Omega Pharma-Lotto led the peloton up to the finish.
As the line approached, Daniel Oss of Liquigas was first, with André Greipel behind him. Rounding the last bend, Cavendish squeezed between this pair and started his sprint. Greipel waited a few seconds and then launched, catching and then passing the Manx Missile at the line.
Greipel beat his old teammate by about 24 inches; that margin validated Greipel’s entire career and all the work he had put in, his risky switch of teams, his effort to pull himself over the hills of the stage. Greipel had won many sprints with HTC and may win many more sprints, but probably none will feel as good as this.
Mention must be made of Vacansoleil rider Johnny Hoogerland. After getting run into a barbed-wire fence in Stage Nine, the brave Dutchman came back to the Tour with 33 stitches in his legs. His teammate Marco Marcato joined the first breakaway and captured the King of the Hill points so Hoogerland could keep the polka-dotted Best Climber’s jersey.
Stage 11 is another for the sprinters and Stage Twelve is the first real mountain stage of the Tour. Hoogerland will wear the polka-dots only one more day. Still—how great that this man could ride with his legs so badly gashed— and how clearly this shows what the Tour de France means to bike riders.
“When I crossed the line I was just really happy. It was the biggest moment in my cycling career and it’s a special day.
The big German was overjoyed—not so much for the win, but to have beaten Cavendish head-to-head. For several years one of the world’s strongest sprinters, Greipel had the misfortune to be on the same team as “The Fastest Man in the World;” Cavendish always got the call for the HTC Tour de France team.
In order to get a shot at the Tour, Greipel had to move to Omegas Pharma-Lotto—not nearly as strong a team on sprints, but one that would support him.
“It was a big success for me just to be able to take part in this race,” Greipel said. “I’m really happy to have found a team that I could ride for in the Tour de France.
“Of course I had my own ambitions here and I tried to win a stage and now I’ve managed that. I wanted to show myself and prove that I can be competitive in this race. I’m really happy to do that.”
“It was always a hard decision that the sport directors [at my old team] had to make about selection,” Greipel continued. “The success of Mark Cavendish is incredible—he’s won 17 stage of the Tour de France—and this sort of record gave the sport directors and him the right to make the selection.
“That’s why it’s been hard for me in the past to get in to do this race. I’m grateful to Omega Pharma-Lotto for giving me a chance and I’m happy that I could win for this team.”
Stage Ten was the perfect stage for this showdown. The stage was short (158 km) but hilly, with four categorized climbs—a Cat 3, a Cat 4, a Cat 3, and then a Cat 4 in the final 15 kilometers, offering a perfect springboard to launch attacks—or to split the peloton and drop sprinters who couldn’t climb.
This is exactly what happened. After opening with a crash (de rigueur for this Tour) a six-rider break formed but was caught before the final climb. Omwega Pharma-Lotto pushed a temendous pace uop the fuinal climb, splitting the peloton and punishing the sprinters.
Another attack composed of five fast riders took off near the top of the climb. The break contained HTC’s Tony Martin, race-leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar,) green-jerseyed Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto,) Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) and Tony Gallopin (Cofidis.)
With Martin sixth, Gilbert ninth, and Voeckler in yellow, the rest of the GC contenders had no choice but to chase.
This break was caught 4.5 km from the finish, but the pace was too high for some of the sprinters, including Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi and Garmin-Cervelo’s Tyler Farrar. Mark Cavendish dropped back but fought his way through to the front before the finish.
A few more late attacks by Biel Kadri of AG2R and Vacansoleil’s Rob Ruijgh, and then by Garmin’s David Millar, kept the pace high. Most of the HTC leadout train had dropped out of the front group; Omega Pharma-Lotto led the peloton up to the finish.
As the line approached, Daniel Oss of Liquigas was first, with André Greipel behind him. Rounding the last bend, Cavendish squeezed between this pair and started his sprint. Greipel waited a few seconds and then launched, catching and then passing the Manx Missile at the line.
Greipel beat his old teammate by about 24 inches; that margin validated Greipel’s entire career and all the work he had put in, his risky switch of teams, his effort to pull himself over the hills of the stage. Greipel had won many sprints with HTC and may win many more sprints, but probably none will feel as good as this.
Mention must be made of Vacansoleil rider Johnny Hoogerland. After getting run into a barbed-wire fence in Stage Nine, the brave Dutchman came back to the Tour with 33 stitches in his legs. His teammate Marco Marcato joined the first breakaway and captured the King of the Hill points so Hoogerland could keep the polka-dotted Best Climber’s jersey.
Stage 11 is another for the sprinters and Stage Twelve is the first real mountain stage of the Tour. Hoogerland will wear the polka-dots only one more day. Still—how great that this man could ride with his legs so badly gashed— and how clearly this shows what the Tour de France means to bike riders.
| 2011 Tour de France Stage Ten Results |
| General Classification after Stage Ten | |||||
| 1 | André Greipel | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 3:31:21 | Thomas Voeckler | Europcar | 42:06:32 | |
| 2 | Mark Cavendish | HTC-Highroad | 0:00 | Luis Leon Sanchez | Rabobank | 0:01:49 | |
| 3 | Jose Joaquin Rojas | Movistar | 0:00 | Cadel Evans | BMC | 0:02:26 | |
| 4 | Thor Hushovd | Garmin-Cervelo | 0:00 | Fränk Schleck | Leopard Trek | 0:02:29 | |
| 5 | Romain Feillu | Vacansoleil | 0:00 | Andy Schleck | Leopard Trek | 0:02:37 | |
| 6 | Daniel Oss | Liquigas-Cannondale | 0:00 | Tony Martin | HTC-Highroad | 0:02:38 | |
| 7 | Sébastien Hinault | AG2R | 0:00 | Peter Velits | HTC-Highroad | 0:02:38 | |
| 8 | Borut Bozic | Vacansoleil | 0:00 | Andreas Klöden | Team RadioShack | 0:02:43 | |
| 9 | Geraint Thomas | Sky | 0:00 | Philippe Gilbert | Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:02:55 | |
| 10 | Samuel Dumoulin | Cofidis, | 0:00 | Jakob Fuglsang | Leopard Trek | 0:03:08 | |
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