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When It Matters Most TdF163
Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) has won at least one stage in the previous five Tours de France. At the start of the day, he had yet to cross the line first in any of the prior twenty stages in this edition of the Grand Boucle. As the German National Champion crossed the line he looked to his right, just making sure that the fast closing Maillot Vert of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) didn't beat him with his highly effective bike throw to the line. At least this time he did not. The sprint for the final stage victory was opened up by the Norwegian sprinter, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), but he was no match for the "Gorilla." Perhaps if the line had been another 100 meters, Sagan would have gotten around the powerful German sprinter. The other Norwegian sprinting for the line was the national champion, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) who crossed the line in fourth place. Sprint duties for his South African team fell to Boasson Hagen since the very successful Mark Cavendish left the Tour before the Alps to prepare for the Summer Olympics. Rounding out the top five was Michael "Bling" Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange). It is a nice fitting end to my day's paintings since the pair had shook hands prior to the end of the neutral start seventy kilometers ago.