Cycling: Two old hands - two winners. André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) can be pleased with their start to the 2018 season. At the Tour Down Under, the German won two stages while the South African finished second three times and secured the overall win. After the final stage in Adelaide, the two over-30 winners were interviewed by Australian television 9Now.
Greipel: "Caleb came shot like a cannonball"
His grin was big after the race - and rightly so. After the first stage, André Greipel also won the last stage of the Tour Down Under. The commentators from Australia therefore spoke of a so-called "Greipel Sandwich". Greipel also spoke after the race, telling TV channel 9Now how he was able to win the stage.
"It wasn't an easy win. The team did a great job again and controlled the race the whole time, resulting in a sprint. Before the finish line we had to deal with a headwind. So I had to wait as long as possible. Caleb came shooting like a cannonball from behind...I was able to hang on to him and pass in the last few yards. I'm very proud."
💬 "He came like a cannonball!!" 💬@AndreGreipel confesses it wasn't easy to get past @CalebEwan to win Be Safe Be Seen @MACofSA stage 6 #TDU pic.twitter.com/qvb8N3rwMm
— Santos Tour Down Under 🐨🚴 (@tourdownunder) 21 January 2018
Impey: "Everything just worked"
Perhaps even a bit bigger than André Greipel was Daryl Impey's radiance. Surprisingly, even for him, the South African won the overall ranking.
"Unbelievable. When I came here I never expected to win this race. But everything just worked and I worked so hard before the season. I'm very happy with this win.”
Daryl Impey is also proud of his compatriot Nicholas Dlamini (Dimension Data), who won the mountain jersey in his first WorldTour race.
"It's definitely a record. But you will get to see more of South Africa. This was Nicholas Dlamini's first race… it's fantastic. All of South Africa can be proud.”
The first South African to win the Ocher Jersey at the #TDU is this man!! Congrats to @darylimpey and everyone at @MitcheltonSCOTT 🏆🙌🏻#TDU pic.twitter.com/xsTf4Q2xCi
— Santos Tour Down Under 🐨🚴 (@tourdownunder) 21 January 2018
Cover image source: Twitter @tourdownunder / TV @ Channel 9Now