22/01/10 - Tour Down Under: Greipel takes stage Four

Greipel’s third victory of 2010 came at the end of a windy day that took riders south of Adelaide and forced them to contend with cross and headwinds, which meant any breakaways never stood a chance. From Greipel’s point of view a lead-out from Matthew Goss, the newest addition to the team’s lead-out train, meant his rivals never stood a chance.

After a tough day in Stirling on Thursday, the sprinters were back on top in Goolwa as André Greipel (HTC-Columbia) ensured the fast men would remain atop the standings with victory in stage four of the Tour Down Under. The victory extended Greipel’s general classification lead by six seconds, while a second place finish by Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha) put the Australian in the same position overall.

With the likes of Bert Grabsch, Hayden Rouslton and Marcel Sieburg patrolling the head of the peloton for HTC-Columbia, Allan Peiper's men were always going to be favourites for the stage win. So it proved to be as Greipel took advantage of the work done throughout the stage and threw himself into the finale for his third win of this year's race.