Greipel claims Oman Opener

Greipel won the tour opener in a bunch sprint from Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda) to take the first leader’s jersey of the six-day race.

“If we can stick to our plan then we are pretty fast and it’s hard to beat us,” Greipel said.

The 29-year-old was a late withdrawal from the Tour of Qatar last week citing illness but was back to his best comfortably winning the sprint on a slight uphill drag.

“It was for safety but after two days I was good,” he said.

“I could do my training at home, it was a good choice from the team to keep me out of Qatar and now I’m back.”

Greipel won three stages at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide last month plus the prelude criterium, in which his team was untouchable.

Kiwi teammate Greg Henderson again piloted Greipel through the home straight and rode in shortly after the race winner, arms aloft.

“Qatar we didn’t do anything and then to come first race back, with the lead-out back, it’s a nice feeling,” Henderson said.

“Everyone was 100 per cent motivated. We had a big team meeting last night as to who was to pull to where and how far and again it worked perfectly.”

Greipel has carefully built his team since leaving the now defunct Highroad outfit at the end of 2010 and seems to have found the right combination in a season that will see sprinters more evenly dispersed across ProTeams and competition thus fiercer.

As an example, Dutchman Koen de Kort switched places in the Project 1T4i train yesterday acting as Marcel Kittel’s last lead-out man. De Kort, who is based in Australia during the off-season, sported a skin-suit for the opener in an effort to maximise every advantage. The 23-year-old Kittel finished just outside the podium but enters the tour on the back of a stage victory at the Etoile de Besseges.

“There were so many trains going and it just comes down to experience and horsepower and the boys have just got some horsepower at the moment,” Henderson said.

“It just shows we had the better lead-out. It doesn’t say anything about anyone’s speed and I think it’s going to be that way for the year.”

Henderson joins the Lotto fold this season that also includes Australian Adam Hansen who too has been instrumental in Greipel’s success so far this year as well as last.

“Everybody knows what they have to do in the position they are in, in the lead-out train, so everybody gives their part to the success,” Greipel said.

A four-man break including Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha), Danilo Wyss (BMC), Pengda Jiao (Champion System) and Alexandre Lemair (Bridgestone Anchor) escaped within the first 15km but were not let too far off the leash.

The break contested the second intermediate sprint with 30km remaining after which Wyss, Lemair and Jiao sat up and waited for the bunch. Ignatyev pushed on but was caught within the final 5km.

Meanwhile, Milan - San Remo champion Matt Goss, who headlines the GreenEDGE team in Oman, was the best-placed Australian in 10th.

The Tour of Oman continues today with an undulating 140.5km road race from Sur to Wadi Dayqah Dam.

Stage 1 results: 159km Wadi Al Huwqayn to Al Alam Palace
1. Andre Greipel (GER) Lotto 3hr 26min 09sec (average: 46.277 km/h)
2. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS)
3. Tyler Farrar (USA
4. Marcel Kittel (GER)
5. Peter Sagan (SVK)
6. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA)
7. Daniel Oss (ITA)
8. Andrea Guardini (ITA)
9. Tony Gallopin (FRA)
10. Matthew Goss (AUS) s.t.

Selected
13. Tom Boonen (BEL)
36. Andy Schleck (LUX) at 3sec
38. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
67. Mark Cavendish (GBR)

Overall standings
1. Andre Greipel (GER) Lotto 3hr 25min 59sec,
2. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS) 0.04sec
3. Tyler Farrar (USA) 0.06
4. Alexandre Lemair (FRA) 0.08
5. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS) 0.09
6. Marcel Kittel (GER) 0.10
7. Peter Sagan (SVK)
8. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA)
9. Daniel Oss (ITA)
10. Andrea Guardini (ITA)

Twitter: @SophieSmith86

Sophie Smith is in Oman as a guest of the Amaury Sport Organisation