Greipel wins stage 1 of World Ports Classic

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André Greipel marked his comeback from a broken collarbone by sprinting to stage one victory at the World Ports Classic ahead of Alexander Porsev (Team Katusha) and Belkin's Theo Bos.

With Lotto-Belisol taking control of the 195km stage from Rotterdam to Antwerp, the German national champion finished off his team's good work for his seventh win of the season.

"The team and I are relieved thanks to this victory, because it had been a while since we won," Greipel said after the stage.

"Also after all the bad luck we had in the spring it was necessary to grab this opportunity to get a bunch sprint. The team put its trust in me, the team spirit was right from kilometre zero. We stuck to the plan.

"At one moment we were a bit in trouble, due to a sanitary stop and a puncture for Greg Henderson. We weren't part of the first echelon, but the luck was on our side. There was nothing wrong about it."

Despite a strong wind and the effort of chasing the break all day, Greipel had only praise for his team which dropped him off for the win.
"There was headwind in the final, that made it harder to time the lead-out," Greipel said. " But the guys did it perfectly and rode to the front on the right moment. During the stage Frederik Willems was pulling at the front, in the chase on the escapees.

"Stig Broeckx and Jens Debusschere did a good job as well before the lead-out could be started up. We'll see what happens tomorrow, for example if we get help from other teams to catch a breakaway."

How the race unfolded
The day's break was established early with Dries Hollanders (Metec - TKH Continental Cyclingteam), Andreas Stauff (MTN - Qhubeka ) and Ronan Van Zandbeek (Cyclingteam De Rijke) building alead of seve minutes over the peloton.

With 60km left to race, the first echelon formed after a mass natural break. Lotto Belisol missed the first echelon but because the riders had to wait at a level crossing, it all came back together.

The leading trio were reeled in and three more riders — Jesper Asselman (Metec - TKH Continental Cyclingteam), Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling) and Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Shimano ) — tired their luck to get away but didn't last very long out in front.

Tijmen Eising (Metec - TKH Continental Cyclingteam) and Petr Vakoc (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) were the next rider to try their luck but with 3km to go, a bunch sprint finish was inventiale with Lotto-Belisol setting the tempo and then the win.

Greipel now leads the GC and the points jersey ahead of a flat 16.5km stage 2 from Antwerpen –Rotterdam to conclude the two-day race.

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