André Greipel, the holder of the record for stage wins (9) at the modern Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (TUR, for short), returns to the Mediterranean coast intending to add to his tally, before heading to the Giro d'Italia.

Someone comes alongside me in the peloton and says, "Hey, Grechyn, what have you gone and done to yourself?" I turn around and see that big smile: André Greipel! I take one look at him and say, "Look who's talking".

Illness and adversity are great levellers, of course, and Greipel himself had heavy strapping over a dislocated collarbone and shoulder ligaments completely torn away in a crash a few weeks earlier. But to the veteran Serhiy Grechyn, King of the Mountains in the 2013 TUR mountain but riding the 2014 Tour of Turkey with a brace to stabilise a badly fractured elbow, André Greipel's kind words proved that, however brightly he may shine in cycling's firmament, the powerful German sprinter has lost none of his humility.

Everyone speaks well of the giant from Rostock. After the Belgian national champion Jens Debusschere took his mid-March stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico, he gave his senior team-mate a glowing testimonial: 'Everything I know about sprinting I learned from André Greipel.' But His inspiration and mentor waves it off. 'I'm not one to hand out lessons, although when the younger riders ask for advice, I always answer them. But I don't think I taught him that much. I mean, you can learn whatever you want, but if you are not a sprinter, you're not going to be able to put it into practice.'

32 years old now, Greipel is the winner of twelve Grand Tour stage wins: six in the Tour de France, four in the Vuelta a España and two in the the Giro d'Italia d'Italia. Fine achievements, considering that his career has coincided with those of two sprinters who may be among to the greatest in cycling history: most recently, his compatriot Marcel Kittel, and before that, his arch-rival and former HTC-Columbia team-mate, Mark Cavendish.

In 2010 Greipel, too talented - too darned fast - to forge a career as someone else's lead-out man, clashed with Cavendish. Dispatched as far away as possible by his team, he found himself riding his first Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

'I think I won five stages out of eight, so it was kind of successful. From then on, better riders started to come, and the race has just got more and more competitive and important in the international calendar. I'm about to start my sixth TUR in a row, which probably tells you all you need to know. I like it here!'

That crash in the 2014 Gent-Wevelgem meant that he came to last year's Tour of Turkey under doctor's orders not compete in the sprints. Unchallenged by his German nemesis, Cavendish came away with four stage wins. This year, Greipel starts the TUR after two generous rides for his team-mates in the two great cobbled classics of the international calendar, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

'I've never shown that I am capable of riding well in those kind of races. Next year I'm definitely going to try to do better. Since Roubaix I've only had four really good days of good training, so I'm still getting into shape for the the Giro d'Italia d'Italia. In Turkey, the first two stages are flat, but then the race route starts to get a bit harder, which will suit me. Not the uphill stages, of course, but if there is a kind of selection before the finish, it's always good for me.'

His nine TUR stages are a record in the modern, post-2008 Presidential Tour of Turkey and have made him unquestionably the most famous and best loved cyclist in Turkey. The local crowds will no doubt be hoping that their the idol can add to his tally.