Cycling: André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) just missed out on overall victory in the 4 days of Dunkirk. The German sprinter put himself in a good position on the fifth stage, which he was able to almost convert into overall victory on the last section. In the end, the 35-year-old was only beaten by a second by Dimitri Claeys (Cofidis).
Greipel surprises as a soloist
Actually, the 4 days of Dunkirk are not necessarily a matter for the pure sprinters. The fifth section seemed to be too difficult – but it was André Greipel taught us otherwise. The Rostock-born top sprinter was part of a breakaway group on Saturday and broke away from his opponents shortly before the finish line. After his courageous solo, Greipel was able to celebrate the day's victory - and dream of overall victory. After five of six stages, the 35-year-old was only four seconds behind the leader in the overall standings Dimitri Claeys (Cofidis). The end of the 4 days from Dunkirk should be a flat stage over 170 kilometers from Coulogne to Dunkirk this Sunday. Thanks to the time bonuses, the best prospects for sprinter André Greipel.
Breakaway day succeeded with a 2600 m of climbing? Yes it is possible with a lot of WILL Power. Thanks for the good company @dimitriclaeys @oscarriesebeek and the good collaboration. pic.twitter.com/Lvp8lDdjsR
— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) 12 May 2018
Greipel is only a second away from overall victory
Actually, the last leg of the 4 days from Dunkirk went according to plan. André Greipel secured additional bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint so that he was only one second behind the overall leader. And now he wanted to complete the victory in the final mass sprint with a place among the top three - but things turned out differently. Because, somewhat surprisingly, a breakaway group crossed the finish line ahead of the peloton. From this dissolved Olivier LeGac (Groupama-FDJ), who was able to celebrate the stage win. André Greipel was only eleven seconds behind in 13th place - and thus second place in the overall standings. Nevertheless, he can celebrate after these great days in France. After all, in addition to second place in the overall standings, he also won two stages!
#4JDD il serait peut être temps de thunder plus de responsabilités à Olivier Le Gac, non ? J'ai l'impression qu'il vaut tellement mieux que son rôle d'équiper. pic.twitter.com/YMuRZ0aZ0g
— Bertrand Guyot (@bguyot1982) 13 May 2018
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