André Greipel (born 16 July 1982) is a German cyclist, who rode professionally in road bicycle racing between 2005 and 2021. Since his retirement from road racing, Greipel has worked as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental teams and , and in 2023, he became the national road coach for the German Cycling Federation. He also competes in masters cycling events for RC Schmitter Köln.
During his professional career, Greipel competed as a pure sprinter and took a total of 158 wins. His major successes included 22 stage victories at Grand Tours, the most by a German rider: 11 at the Tour de France, 4 at the Vuelta a España, and 7 at the Giro d'Italia, while he also won the points classification in the 2009 Vuelta a España.
A three-time winner of the German National Road Race Championships (a record shared with six other riders), Greipel also prevailed in the classic Paris–Bourges and the 2015 Vattenfall Cyclassics, and won the overall classification of the Tour Down Under in Australia, in 2008 and 2010. He is also the record holder for most stage wins at the Tour Down Under with eighteen, and is tied for most stage wins at the Benelux Tour (seven, with Tom Boonen) and the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (eleven, with Mark Cavendish).
Career Greipel was born in Rostock, East Germany. He rode for TEAG Team Köstritzer at under-23 level between 2002 and 2004, winning the Grand Prix de Waregem in 2003, and stages of the Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 in both 2003 and 2004.
Team Wiesenhof (2005) Greipel turned professional as part of , a UCI Professional Continental team, in 2005. Having placed second and third on stages earlier in the race, Greipel took his first professional victory at the Danmark Rundt, winning the final stage of the race in Frederiksberg. Before the end of the season, Greipel took fourth-place finishes at the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen and the Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt.
T-Mobile Team (2006–2010) 2006–2007 In September 2005, Greipel signed an initial one-year contract with the , a UCI ProTeam, for the 2006 season. He took his first wins for the team at April's Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt; he won the opening stage of the race, sprinting instead of the team's designated sprinter Olaf Pollack, before adding a second victory on stage four, leading Pollack home in a 1–2 finish. Later in the season, Greipel rode his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España, where he finished second to Thor Hushovd on the sixth stage, before withdrawing from the race during the ninth stage. Having remained with the into 2007, Greipel's only victories of the season came at the Sachsen Tour in the summer, winning the opening two stages of the race. He did, however, work as a lead-out man for his teammate Gerald Ciolek for several of his victories during the year, including at the Deutschland Tour.
2008 Greipel started the 2008 season at the Tour Down Under, as part of the now-renamed . Having won the pre-race Down Under Classic criterium and the race's second stage, Greipel then won the final three stages to win the race overall by fifteen seconds, ahead of Allan Davis, having not expected to feature in the general classification mix. He also prevailed in the points classification by four points from Davis, as he became the first leader of the UCI ProTour overall standings. After finishing third at Nokere Koerse, Greipel made his début at the Giro d'Italia and he took his first Grand Tour stage victory on stage seventeen, leading home teammate Mark Cavendish in Locarno.
In July, Greipel won a stage and the points classification at the Tour of Austria, before winning two stages at the Sachsen Tour. The following month, he won a stage at both the Eneco Tour – where he held the race lead until the final individual time trial stage – and the Deutschland Tour. Before the end of the season, Greipel took three further victories in bunch sprints – winning the Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt, the Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen, and the Münsterland Giro.
2009 Greipel took the opening stage victory at the Tour Down Under in January, but withdrew from the race two days later, having collided with a stationary police motorcycle during the third stage, suffering a shoulder injury which required surgery and three months of rehabilitation. He returned to racing at the Four Days of Dunkirk in May, leading the race overall, winning the final stage and the points classification. Greipel then won three stages and the points classification at the Bayern Rundfahrt, before consecutive one-day victories in early June at the Neuseen Classics and the Philadelphia International Championship. He also won three stages and the points classification at a further two races – the Ster Elektrotoer and the Tour of Austria – but was not selected for 's squad at the Tour de France.
Prior to the Vuelta a España, Greipel took a stage victory at both the Sachsen Tour and the Tour de Pologne. Greipel led at the Vuelta a España, in the absence of teammate Mark Cavendish. He missed on a stage win on stage three, having been separated from his final lead-out rider Greg Henderson, who went on to win the sprint in Venlo. Greipel then won the next two stages, taking the lead in both the points classification and the general classification. Greipel ceded the overall lead to Fabian Cancellara following the stage seven individual time trial, but maintained the green jersey until stage thirteen, when Alejandro Valverde took the lead in the points classification due to a points penalty for Greipel. Greipel took his third stage victory on stage sixteen to retake the green jersey, which he would hold for the remainder of the race, and a fourth stage win came on the final day, winning the ceremonial circuit stage in Madrid. He finished 2009 with his 20th win of the season at Paris–Bourges, with only Cavendish taking more victories during the year.
2010
Greipel started the 2010 season with his second overall victory at the Tour Down Under, also winning three stages and the points classification. Greipel won the Trofeo Magaluf–Palmanova, held as part of the Vuelta a Mallorca one-day races, before winning a stage and the points classification at the Volta ao Algarve. In April, Greipel won five stages at the Tour of Turkey, including the prologue individual time trial. He finished eighth overall and earned the points classification jersey. He won stage 18 at May's Giro d'Italia, but failed to start the following stage. Having won the points classification at the Ster Elektrotoer, Greipel then won two stages at the Tour of Austria (also winning the points classification), the Tour de Pologne, and the Eneco Tour. He concluded the season with three stage victories at the Tour of Britain, and was named German Male Cyclist of the Year () in December.
Omega Pharma–Lotto (2011–2018) In August 2010, Greipel signed with for the 2011 season, with four of his teammates later joining him at the team.
2011
Greipel made his first start with the team at January's Tour Down Under, but failed to win a stage for the first time; he took his first victory with the team the following month, when he won the fourth stage of the Volta ao Algarve. Over the rest of the spring, Greipel took a stage win at both the Three Days of De Panne and the Tour of Turkey, as well as two stage wins and the points classification at the Tour of Belgium. Greipel then made his début at the Tour de France, as the designated sprinter for . On stage ten, Greipel took his first stage win, inching out Mark Cavendish in a bunch sprint in Carmaux. He was in contention for a second consecutive stage win the following day, but was beaten to the line in Lavaur by Cavendish. Following the Tour de France, Greipel took two consecutive stage wins at the Eneco Tour, before second-place finishes at the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen and Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen one-day races in Belgium. He was team captain for Germany going into the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Copenhagen, but could only finish third in the bunch sprint, behind his former teammates Cavendish and Matthew Goss.
2012 Greipel started the season with three stage victories at the Tour Down Under in January, and a further two stage wins at the Tour of Oman in February. He then went two months without a victory, not winning again until April's Tour of Turkey, with a sprint win in Antalya on stage two. The following month, Greipel then won the first three stages of the Tour of Belgium, winning the points classification as a result. Before the Tour de France, Greipel won two stages and the points classification at the Tour de Luxembourg, the ProRace Berlin in a sprint finish, and the second stage of the Ster ZLM Toer.
At the Tour de France, Greipel and his teammates had high hopes for stage victories. He was edged out for victory by Mark Cavendish on stage 2, despite admitting he had a "nearly perfect lead out train". On stage 4, Greipel avoided a crash with around remaining – which took down other riders including Cavendish – and won the sprint in Rouen by beating Alessandro Petacchi and Tom Veelers. Greipel took a second consecutive win on stage 5, winning the sprint in Saint-Quentin after the breakaway was caught inside the final kilometre of the stage. Having missed out on a third consecutive stage win with a second-place finish – to Peter Sagan – in Metz on stage 6, Greipel did ultimately take a third stage win on stage 13, out-sprinting Sagan for the victory. He was the closest challenger to Sagan in the points classification, albeit more than 100 points in arrears.
Greipel was seen to be one of the favourites for the road race at the Olympics in London, but he did not feature towards the medal places. He then placed second to Arnaud Démare in August's Vattenfall Cyclassics, the only UCI World Tour event disputed in Germany. He stated that the scorching heat did not help matters in the race, and that his "engine had some cooling problems". He also announced after the race that he would not participate in the road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Limburg, citing the course as "too difficult". He took three further victories over the remainder of the season – winning the first two stages of the Danmark Rundt, as well as a victory in the Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem one-day race – while also placing second overall at the World Ports Classic, finishing second on both stages. Following the end of the season, Greipel welcomed the investigation of Lance Armstrong by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), stating that "the fight against cheating and the falsely-earned successes must absolutely be continued".
2013 Greipel started the 2013 campaign in Australia by winning the Down Under Classic for a record third time, before going on to win three stages at the Tour Down Under – the second of which, his thirteenth overall, took him past Robbie McEwen's previous record for most stage victories at the Tour Down Under. In his next start, Greipel then won the opening stage at the Tour Méditerranéen. While racing at the Tour of Turkey, Greipel's grandmother died; having spoken to other family members, he elected to continue in the race, and went on to win stages four and five as well as the points classification. He then won two consecutive stages and the points classification in his next stage race, the Tour of Belgium.