Greipel won one stage in his Tour de France debut. The 29-year-old German beat his rival and former teammate Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) on stage 10 in Carmaux.
He thanked his teammates who worked for him in Paris. “I have to thank Philippe [Gilbert], Marcel [Sieberg] and Jürgen [Roelandts]. They did a great job,” Greipel said, according to Het Laatste Nieuws. “But Cavendish had many guys with him. They could wait a long time.”
Roelandts confirmed HTC-Highroad's dominance in the race's final sprint. “It was very hectic. HTC played it very cleverly so they had their whole train. We had to come from far back and it was impossible to beat Cavendish.
“I think Greipel is definitely here to win,” he continued. “He just has to learn to hold on to the wheel, because he lost me and Sieberg.”
Even Philippe Gilbert tried to help Greipel, but was unable to stay up with the speedy sprinters on the cobblestones. “I was suffering up to the last kilometer. Greipel waned me to ride a little longer, but I just couldn't. Too bad he only finished third.”
The Belgian champion was naturally happy with his Tour, having won the first stage and wearing at various times the yellow, polka-dot and green jerseys during the race. “I am satisfied with my Tour. The whole team was always good.”
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Looking forward, he said, “I'll try to win the Clasica San Sebastian. I didn't come out of the Tour super tired. It is my goal to push Cadel Evans out of first place in the world ranking.”
