Credit: Mario Stiehl

Credit: Mario Stiehl

 

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Greipel takes his 13th win of the season

September 14, 2008

Columbia fastman André Greipel has sprinted to his 13th victory of the season in the Rund um die Nurnberger Altstadt race.

Greipel's victory coincided with Columbia rider Judith Arndt's win in the women's World Cup race of the same name, as well as her overall victory in the series.

"It was a similar but not identical course to the women¹s event." Greipel said afterwards, "but fortunately for me the finishing straight was ideal for a bunch sprint."

"I was actually in a break of five guys that got pulled back in the last lap, but then the team set me up perfectly for a bunch sprint win."

Despite having taken part in the break, Greipel still had overwhelming strength for the final dash for the line.

"I don't know how much I won by, but it was a lot - maybe as much as ten metres."

Greipel's first victory goes all the way back to mid-January and the Tour Down Under Classic in Australia. Since then he's has wins in races ranging from the Tour of Italy to the Tour of Germany.

"It's been a great season for me, by far my best. I"ve been lucky in one sense, I haven¹t been sick. That¹s helped me a lot."

"But I've kept in good shape, too, working hard and not losing my focus." Down as a reserve for Germany's World Championships squad, Greipel says he hopes this latest win could up his chances of taking part: "It's not me that makes the decision, but at the very least this victory won't do me any harm."

"In theory my last race of the year is on October 3rd [in the Munsterland Giro in Germany] but I may go for even longer, all the way the way through to Paris-Tours. It just depends on how tired I am."

Greipel's win is the eightieth of the season for Columbia¹s Men's Team.