Vuelta a Espana - Greipel wins stage four

Eurosport - Thu, 03 Sep 16:45:00 2009

German Andre Greipel of Team Columbia HTC headed a four-man sprint to win the treacherous 225km fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana from Venlo in the Netherlands to Liege in Belgium.

CYCLING Andre Greipel of Germany reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana cycling race - Tuesday September 1 2009 - 0

Greipel beat Belgian Wouter Weylandt, and the German duo of Bert Grabsch and Marcel Sieberg to the line just moments after around 40 riders, including overall leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, suffered a huge pile-up just 2km from the finish.

But Cancellara, of the Saxo Bank team, managed to retain the race leader's gold jersey in the overall standings, six seconds ahead of second-placed Kiwi Greg Henderson, who won Monday's third stage.

"It was an astonishing finish but that's the race," said Greipel.

On a wet road, several riders at the head of the peloton slipped coming into a roundabout taking with them many more, and leaving only six free to continue unmolested.

The stage had taken place under continuous rainy conditions and spills were commonplace throughout the day.

In the race, there was a breakaway by Dutchman Lars Boom, Uzbek Serguei Lagutin, Germany's Dominik Roels and Spaniard Javier Ramirez after 20km, the quartet building up a lead of 11 minutes.

But they were reeled back in 12km from the finishing line thanks largely to the determination of the sprinter-heavy teams, notably the QuickStep outfit of Tom Boonen, who lies fourth in the overall standings.

Boonen, however, was brought down in the final pile-up alongside Cancellara and Spain's Alejandro Valverde.

The fact that the incident took place less than 3km from the line meant that the riders involved in the crash were given the same time as the winner.

The fifth stage will start in the Spanish city of Taragona on Thursday, with the teams and riders moving on Wednesday to the spiritual home of La Vuelta after their detour into northern Europe that has seen the stages attended by hundreds of thousands of fans.

Vuelta a Espana - stage four results:

1. Andre Greipel (Germany / Columbia ) 5hrs 43mins 5secs

2. Wouter Weylandt (Belgium / Quick-Step ) Same time

3. Bert Grabsch (Germany / Columbia )

4. Marcel Sieberg (Germany / Columbia )

5. Marco Velo (Italy / Quick-Step )

6. Matteo Tosatto (Italy / Quick-Step )

7. Adam Hansen (Australia / Columbia )

8. Juergen Roelandts (Belgium / Silence - Lotto )

9. Linus Gerdemann (Germany / Milram )

10. Thomas Rohregger (Austria / Milram )

Overall standings

1. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland/Saxo Bank) 15hrs 12mins 38secs

2. Tom Boonen (Belgium / Quick-Step ) +9"

3. Bert Grabsch (Germany / Columbia ) +11"

4. Andre Greipel (Germany / Columbia )

5. Tyler Farrar (U.S. / Garmin ) +12"

6. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Liquigas ) +16"

7. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Liquigas ) +17"

8. David Garcia (Spain / Xacobeo ) +18"

9. Ivan Basso (Italy / Liquigas )

10. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Caisse d'Epargne )

Sprinter standings

1. Andre Greipel (Germany / Columbia ) 53 points

2. Tom Boonen (Belgium / Quick-Step ) 38

3. Tyler Farrar (U.S. / Garmin ) 33

King of the mountain standings

1. Lars Boom (Netherlands / Rabobank ) 9 points

2. Javier Ramirez (Spain / Andalucia ) 5

3. Sergey Lagutin (Uzbekistan / Vacansoleil ) 3

La Vuelta Stage 5 LIVE at 3pm UK Time on Thursday on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

AFP

Comment 1 - 8 of 8

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  1. they only benefited with 3 riders, the same amount as­ quick-step...they just know who to set up a sprint and­ it is a known fact that you are safer in the top 10­ than anywhere else.

    From Peter, on Wed 2 Sep 10:52AM

  2. Why is it Columbia who always seem to benefit from­ these dodgy events. Has Stapleton made a pact with the­ devil?

    From keir_williams, on Tue 1 Sep 10:08PM

  3. Even before the mass pile up, falling was the recurring­ theme of the day. That truly topped it all off. Good­ timing for a rest day. The peloton will be relieved to­ be moving on to Spain.

    From CR, on Tue 1 Sep 9:15PM

  4. It's nothing to do with cycling but that photo­ makes Greipel look like a man who has forgotten to put­ his false teeth in. To do with cycling; congratulations­ to him. He 'might' not have won the stage­ without the fall but he kept himself in the right­ position to avoid trouble and crossed the line first­ so, well done Andre. The Germans are doing pretty well­ in the sprints so far.

    From belfastfootball, on Tue 1 Sep 7:34PM

  5. Is it me, or are all the mobile phones used by the on­ the road contributors out of phase - the sound quality­ today was nearly as bad as the USA cell phone system -­ Only a few words were intelligible.

    From Fred, on Tue 1 Sep 7:16PM

  6. yeah man cunego needs to cut loose of these ideas that­ he is a stage racer and go head to head with Valverde­ year round for a real show!

    From istoleyourbicycle, on Tue 1 Sep 6:01PM

  7. I believe he is preparing for the worlds and Lombardia­ at the Vuelta. He also rode the Vuelta Portugal as part­ of his build up. Don't bet against him!

    From SteveH, on Tue 1 Sep 5:38PM

  8. anybodyknow what is up with Cunego , these days.

    From LOOK486, on Tue 1 Sep 4:55PM
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