My name is Elin - A pro cycling lover's reflections

Greipel disappointed after lead out mistake

Category: Cycling

André GreipelYesterday, Chris Sutton (Sky) won the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, ahead of Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) and André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Greipel, who finished third, was not too happy. He had wished for more. He has wished for more since his season started, but by some reason, things have not gone has planned.

In the Tour Down Under, Greipel had great results, but never won anything. However, he did take a stage victory in the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal.

His Omega Pharma-Lotto had wished for more at the opening weekend of racing in Belgium, but Philip Gilbert couldn't follow the favourites on Saturday and admitted that he simply wasn't good enough. The best rider was Jurgen Roelandts who finished ninth.

But yesterday, Greipel was the team captain. The team worked hard to lead him out in the sprint, but Greipel (only) finished third and he wasn't happy at all. The lead out train was nothing like it used to be during his days at the HTC-Columbia team.

"There was no lead-out," Greipel told Cyclingnews.

"The team did a great job but I lost the wheel in the last corner so I had to go from 800 metres to 300 metres on my own to get to the front again. Then I nearly got it but I was just unlucky," Greipel said.

Well, the team will perhaps have better luck at next week's Paris-Nice.