Ten-time Tour de France stage winner Andre Greipel returns to the Aviva Tour of Britain this weekend for the first time since 2010, when he won a hat trick of stages.
 
Speaking to the official Aviva Tour of Britain website – www.tourofbritain.co.uk – the Lotto Soudal rider explained how the race, which begins in North Wales on Sunday 6 September, would be the perfect preparation for the World Road Race Championships, held in the USA at the end of September.
 
"I am looking for a very tough intense block of racing – but not too long – and the Tour of Britain works perfectly for me. I am interested in the World Championships and we have a strong German team with good possibilities for a number of riders so I was thinking how to prepare best.
 
"I remember it as a hard race in 2010 and talking to other riders it seems the Tour of Britain has become an even harder race since then, which I welcome. Well this year anyway! The guys say that last year almost every day felt like a Classics day and that is probably what you need before a World Championships. A lot of riders seemed to come out of the Tour of Britain in very good form last year for the Worlds.
 
"Hopefully there will be a couple of sprint stages but good hard racing and riding is what I look forward to most of all. I see there are three stages well over 200km which is pretty tough in an eight day race so that is excellent preparation for Richmond.  
 
"In America for sure I don't see a bunch sprint like Copenhagen in 2011 with Cav, Matt Goss and myself, but I do think it could come down to a sprint in a smaller group and it is possible that some of us recognised sprinters could be involved. We will see, you can look foolish trying to predict World Championships and we might get a completely different race but there are possibilities. My form this season has been good, the motivation is high but you must be in the right shape to have a chance."
 
Reflecting on his last appearance at the Aviva Tour of Britain, in 2010, which saw him win three stages in Blackpool, Great Yarmouth and London, Greipel said;
 
"I have strong memories of 2010. It was a very tough race with all sorts of weather, the rainy day through Wales and the finish in Swansea was very hard indeed. It wasn't an easy race for Highroad, we had injuries and illness, but in the end it was very successful. Despite that I had three wins and Michael Albasini was super strong that week and took a great win in GC. It was a good celebration at the end."
 
Greipel will line up alongside fellow Aviva Tour of Britain stage winners Mark Cavendish, Gerald Ciolek and Edvald Boasson Hagen, all of whom have won sprint stages of the race in the past. Further team and rider announcements will be made during this week.