Greipel at the double, Phinney retains Eneco Tour lead

German sprint specialist Andre Greipel of Omega-Pharma claimed his second successive victory on the Eneco Tour, finishing ahead of American Tyler Farrar and Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen Wednesday. Highly-regarded young American Taylor Phinney, of BMC, retained the race leader's jersey after finishing sixth in the 173.7 km ride from Aalter to Ardooie. Phinney, who won the prologue on Monday for his first win among the professional ranks, holds a three second lead over Boasson Hagen, winner of this race in 2009, while Briton David Millar is eight seconds adrift. Greipel's victory upset Team Sky's plans as they had controlled the stage hoping to set up Boasson Hagen, but the plucky German stuck to his task and shadowed the Norwegian before bursting past him to edge the stage. "I know this finish well, it was the same as last year," said 27-year-old Greipel, who was recording his eighth win of the season. "My team-mates set me up so well that I couldn't be beaten." Thursday's third stage is the 191.2km ride from Heers to Andenne, which includes several climbs most notably the Mur de Huy. This should suit Belgian classics ace Philippe Gilbert, as it is a climb he usually trains on, and he will be looking to don the overall leader's white jersey which should he retain it till Sunday's finish will see him supplant Australia's Tour de France champion Cadel Evans as world number one.