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Tour de France 2014: André Greipel triumphs in stage six in Reims Tour de France 2014: André Greipel triumphs in stage six in Reims
(about 20 hours later)
A sprint finish at the Tour de France, a German punching the sky after an easy triumph. Only this time it was André Greipel – not Marcel Kittel. A sprint finish at the Tour de France, a German punching through the sooty gloom after a dominant victory. A familiar story, with a twist: this time it was André Greipel, squeezed into his white-black-red-and-gold national championship jersey, smiling and roaring and smiling some more. Finally, he had won a stage in this year’s race.
Kittel, a three-time stage winner already, was nowhere to be seen. In Champagne country, Kittel said he felt flat a kilometre from the finish of the 194-km sixth stage from Arras to Reims, and so didn’t contest the sprint. For once Marcel Kittel was absent. As the riders entered Champagne country, his legs felt flat and he stood up a kilometre from the finish of the 194km sixth stage from Arras to Reims. Greipel took advantage, chasing down Michal Kwiatkowski – who had made a break for the line with a kilometre remaining – to win by a bike length. Alexander Kristoff was second, with Samuel Dumoulin third.
Lotto-Belisol’s Greipel took advantage, chasing down Michal Kwiatkowski – who had made a break for the line with a kilometre remaining – with 100m to go, before winning by a bike length. The Norwegian Alexander Kristoff was second, with Australia’s Mark Renshaw third. The giant German’s relief was shared not just by his team, but the rest of us. After stage one Greipel hurled his water bottle to the ground after failing to muster a challenge. He was criticised by his manager for not following the Lotto-Belisol train after stage three. And while other riders were suffering from bruises and bumps, Greipel seemed afflicted only by a severe case of the grumps.
“I think there was a lot of pressure on us, and also on my shoulders,” said Greipel. “Everybody did the job they had to do to get me in the position for the sprint and I had enough power to win. I am very happy that we finally have a stage win.” Perhaps that is unsurprising. Sprinters deprived of stage victories become like prizefighters deprived of sex. Fuses are shortened. Tempers rise. Testosterone searches for release. Not that Greipel was entirely happy afterwards. When it was put to him that he had suffered a “very difficult year”, he replied crossly: “Why? It’s my 13th win of the season so not so bad.”
The positions at the top of the general classification remain unchanged, with Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali holding a two-second advantage over his team-mate Jakob Fuglsang, with Peter Sagan third, 44 seconds back. But maybe Greipel deserves some slack. It cannot have been easy scratching around for form while watching Kittel win three stages. Worse still, his Lotto-Belisol team had also lost Greg Henderson, who crashed and damaged his knee on Tuesday, and were nursing their team leader Jurgen Van Den Broeck, who landed in a ditch after flipping over his handlebars on the cobbles on Wednesday. As he admitted: “There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders.”
Earlier the enormous rain cloud that has sat sulkily above northern France ever since the Tour arrived from Britain, caused more problems. And after a large crash with 79km remaining Team Sky’s Xabier Zandio was forced to retire with a broken collarbone. This stage was dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the first world war, with the route passing the former battlefield of Chemin des Dames, and the French president François Hollande was on hand to pay tribute to the soldiers and the riders. He also bore witness to yet more crashes as the enormous rain cloud that has sat sulkily above northern France ever since the Tour arrived from Britain again made the roads slippery. The biggest crash of the day, with 79km remaining, took out close to a dozen riders – and shortly afterwards Sky’s Xabier Zandio was forced to abandon with a suspected broken collarbone.
The Russian Katusha rider Egor Silin also withdrew after hurting his head in a crash while Jesús Hernández, Alberto Contador’s loyal man in the mountains, is out after crashing in the crosswinds at Chemin des Dames. The Katusha rider Egor Silin also withdrew with a head injury while Jesús Hernández – one of Alberto Contador’s main men for the mountains – succumbed after crashing in the crosswinds at Chemin des Dames. The French champion Arnaud Démare, who was eyeing a podium spot for the stage, also crashed, as did the green jersey of Peter Sagan. But Sagan, despite injuring his left elbow, staged an impressive recovery to finish fifth. It means he keeps up his remarkable record of coming in the top five on every stage of this year’s race so far. Today’s stage, with a fourth-category climb 5.5km from the finish, looks tailor-made for him.
The French champion, Arnaud Démare, who would have targeted this stage, also crashed - as did the green jersey-holder Sagan, but both were able to continue. As the peloton headed towards Reims, Kittel was the big favourite. But he was sore after two crashes on Wednesday and his leadout man John Degenkolb was also riding with a torn muscle in his backside. His rivals scented an opportunity.During the last five kilometres, Mark Renshaw’s Omega Pharma-Quickstep team battled with Kristoff’s Katusha for prime position. But Kwiatkowski nearly surprised them all with a sudden spurt just under the 1km-to-go kite. Greipel crushed down hard on his pedals and reeled him in with 100m remaining.
Meanwhile the race director Christian Prudhomme has rejected claims by some riders, including the American Tejay van Garderen, that the cobbles have no place at the Tour de France. With all the main contenders rolling in just behind, the top of general classification remains unchanged, with Vincenzo Nibali holding a two-second advantage over Jakob Fuglsang, and Sagan third. Greipel, meanwhile, has rediscovered his mojo – and says he is ready to battle with Kittel again. “Of course we are rivals,” he said, “but I have a lot of respect for him. He’s pretty fast.” But on this day, for once, he was not fastest of all.
Prudhomme said: “The cobbles are an integral part of the race. A Tour de France winner has to be able to ride on every kind of road.
“There were many crashes on the asphalt, but not so many on the cobbles. The job of a cyclist is exceptional but difficult. What they have done contributes to their legend, being admired by people around the world. We would do it again.”