Andre Greipel has refused all speculation that he will be able to win the Tour Down Under for a third time. With the race having become much more hilly in recent years, all the German can hope for is now to add more stage wins to his palmares.

When the Tour Down Under was included in the ProTour in 2008, Andre Greipel became the first winner of the race. That win started a love story between the Australian race and the German sprinter which has seen him become the most successful rider in the race's history, with 14 stage wins and another overall win in 2010 on his palmares.

However, the organizers have gradually made the race harder and in 2012 they decided to include a summit finish on Old Willunga Hill. Last year the Corkscrew Climb made things even tougher and this year, the Mengler's Hill will make things very difficult already on the first stage.

Hence, Greipel admits that the times where he can realistically hope to win the race are now gone. Instead, he has set his sights on more stage wins, after winning half of the stages in last year's edition.

''It will not happen that I win it another time because it's always getting harder and harder," he told the Australian press upon arriving in Australia. "Hopefully we can start the season like we always do and get an early win."

In 2014, things will be more difficult for Greipel. His usual lead-out man Greg Henderson is out with an injury and his lead-out train of Adam Hansen, Marcel Sieberg and Jurgen Roelandts will instead have to work with Jens Debusschere as a replacement. Furthermore, he will go up against a strong field that his led by quadruple Tour de France stage winner Marcel Kittel.

"I always say in the early season, you never know what is going to happen, how everybody is, how the legs are," said Greipel. "The off-season was good. Now we have to start working again and hopefully we [Lotto Belisol] can start the season like we always do and get an early win.

"The plan is to stay healthy and get the kilometres in the legs. And if the condition is OK and it works out, it's always nice to have an early win.''

When it comes to the GC battle, Greipel is hopeful that Hansen can vie for a good result.

"He did good training during the [northern] winter and he's always motivated in the only race in Australia so, if his mind is OK, I think he can be top-10."

The Tour Down Under starts on January 21 and is preceded by the People's Choice Classic two days earlier.