The 2012 Tour de France is the 99th and current edition of the Tour de France. It began in the city of Liège in Belgium on 30th June 2012 and is scheduled to end on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Besides Belgium and France, the Tour will also pass through Switzerland.
Tour de France – Andre Greipel aims hat-trick
In the fifth stage of Tour, Andre Greipel of Germany led a frenzied bunch sprint to the fifth stage finish line for his second straight Tour de France stage win on Thursday. Andre Greipel snatched back-to-back stage victories in the Tour de France when he dominated a final bunch sprint in the fifth leg. Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland maintained the overall leader’s yellow jersey for a sixth straight day after the mostly flat 122-mile trek from Rouen to Saint-Quentin was almost tailor-made for sprinters except for a slight uphill near the end. Swiss Fabian Cancellara kept his overall seven-second lead over Briton Bradley Wiggins and France’s Sylvain Chavanel.
German strongman Greipel, winner a day earlier in Rouen, beat Australia’s Matthew Goss and Argentina’s Juan Jose Haedo in a spectacular finish. The pack overtook three breakaway riders near the finish line. Greipel wheeled out in front a split-second ahead of Matt Goss of Australia, who was second. Mark Cavendish was fourth.
With the first week of the 99th Tour de France almost completed, Australian contender Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), the 35-year-old is firmly embedded in the top ten in the general classification – seventh to be precise. Evans’ favourable position is in part due to a solid performance in the 6.4km prologue time-trial in Liège, where he finished 13th, just 10 seconds shy of arguably his greatest threat Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling).
Last night was no exception as riders travelled 197km from Rouen to Saint-Quentin for stage five of the great race. Australian Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) was second and is still aiming for a tilt at the green jersey, evident in the large amount of work done by teammate and fellow countryman Stuart O’Grady at the head of the peloton.
The top standings didn’t change: Bradley Wiggins, the leader of Cavendish’s Team Sky, was second overall, seven seconds behind the Swiss leader. Defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia was 17 seconds off the pace in seventh. Green jersey holder Peter Sagan of Slovakia was also involved in the incident but retained top spot in the points classification.German Marcel Kittel pulled out of the event because of gastroenteritis.
Friday’s 207.5-km sixth stage takes the peloton from Epernay to Metz, should be the third successive day for the sprinters. Goss will be hoping to go one better than last night, with Greipel – the German Bullet – going for a hat-trick of stage wins.
Tags: Andre Greipel, Cycling, Germany, Tour de France
