German sprinter Andre Greipel put his Olympic road race credentials on display again by winning his third stage at the Tour de France on Saturday. Greipel, who rides for the Belgian team Lotto, is expected to be one of the biggest challengers to reigning world champion Mark Cavendish of Britain at the Games' road race in London six days after the end of the Tour.
And his victory at the end of the tough, 217 km stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Cap d'Agde, which included a short (1.6 km) but nasty nasty climb 21.4 km from the finish, highlighted his potential again.
"We showed how teamwork should be done today. It was amazing," said Greipel, who won stages four and five earlier in the race.
"I didn't know this climb, but I knew that if I stayed at the front I had a good chance of getting over the summit with the leaders.
"It was really hard but I managed to hold on."
Despite a brief skirmish between defending race champion Cadel Evans and the Sky team of race leader Bradley Wiggins, Greipel crested the Mont Clair summit among the leaders. Although finishing on the flat terrain favoured by sprinters, the Olympic road race on July 28 is held on a circuit featuring Box Hill in Surrey, to be raced nine times.
Cavendish was one of several sprint specialists spat out the back of the field, and when Lotto reformed on the descent they resumed in determined fashion.
A late attack from with veteran Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), who dragged Michael Albasini of Orica-GreenEdge with him, was soon snuffed out.
And another futile attempt by Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez was also brought to heel before, astonishingly, the yellow jersey of Wiggins appeared at the front in a bid to set up Edvald Boasson Hagen for the sprint.
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