Tamouridis honours new bike and jersey in Eneco

Resplendent in his national championship jersey and aboard his Greece-themed Orbea Orca, Ioannis Tamouridis decided to give Euskaltel some welcome TV time by spending the fourth stage of the Eneco Tour off the front.

It's not every day Euskaltel have a national champion in their ranks, so equipment providers Bio Racer and Orbea wisely decided to honour the Greek by styling his jersey and bike in the blue colour of his home country.

The 33-year-old spent the majority of Thursday's stage from Essen to Vlijmen in the day's main break. While the four-man move didn't succeed in holding off the main pack, 'Tamu' was more than pleased post-stage after having been the last one of the quartet to be caught.

"My way on honoring the national championships jersey at the Eneco Tour. Thanks to Euskaltel Euskadi", he tweeted later on Thursday, adding a photo of himself in the break.

Tamouridis was caught just inside the ten kilometres to go-mark, and, entirely as anticipated, the sprinters got their way from thereon in. Again as expected, André Greipel emerged victorious by some margin, besting Giacomo Nizzolo and Lars Boom to take his first stage of this year's race.

Juan José Lobato tried to mix it up with the big boys, but a big crash some six clicks out caused havoc in the pack and ensured a lot of the sprinters lost their positions. Euskaltel's sprinter eventually finished up 15th.

Results:

• (1, André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol), 3:47:36)
• 15, Juan José Lobato, s.t.
• 64, Romain Sicard, 0:06
• 67, Garikoitz Bravo, s.t.
• 95, Rubén Pérez, 0:34
• 97, Ioannis Tamouridis, s.t.
• 135, Miguel Mínguez, 3:11
• 155, Jon Aberasturi, 7:04
• 159, Jure Kocjan, 10:04

Photo: Kevin Remmerie