An audacious Lance Armstrong attack failed to break Andre Greipel’s stranglehold on the Tour Down Under yesterday as the German claimed his third stage win in emphatic style.
Armstrong and RadioShack teammate Tomas Vaitkus broke forward with about 16km to go, but were caught by the pack near the end of the 150km stage four.
Greipel, the 2008 champion from Germany, put on a trademark powerful sprint to cross ahead of Australians Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown.
“That was as hard as I can go,” said Armstrong, who finished some 17 seconds behind the winner. “Tomas went and kept going and kept going. I turned around and it was just the two of us. It was a good effort, maybe not the best outcome.”
Greipel crashed into a parked police motorbike during last year’s race, dramatically ending his title defense and condemning him to four months out with shoulder surgery.
He was jubilant after yesterday’s win but said it was too early to start celebrating a second Tour Down Under victory with the event’s most challenging climb, the notorious Willunga Hill, looming today.
“Today’s race is over, but not tomorrow’s,” Greipel said, praising his HTC-Columbia team. “Everyone is looking out for us but if the team works we can be successful. We deserve the wins because we always ride from the front.”
Greipel now holds a 20-second advantage overall from McEwen, with Team Sky’s Greg Henderson four seconds further back and world road champion Cadel Evans 26 seconds adrift.
Armstrong, who is 29th overall, described the German as “unbeatable” in a straight sprint after he also pounced for victory on Tuesday.
The American, who has drawn massive crowds as he bids to extend his record seven Tour de France wins, said he progressing well in the second year of his comeback.
“I feel better than I thought but I still don’t think I have the legs to go with the best, best guys tomorrow,” he said.
“I think [Alejandro] Valverde, Cadel [Evans] will be strong and a few other guys. I’ll be just off that.
“It feels different than last year, it feels more comfortable both pedalling but also in the bunch, positioning, feeling the race. I feel my condition is more advanced, I feel a little lighter,” Armstrong said.
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