Following a highly successful 2013, Andre Greipel has started to prepare the coming season and is back in training. Once again, the German will kick off his season in the Tour Down Under where he has won several stages in the past, and will make the Tour de France the centrepiece of his season.

Since the Tour Down Under was elevated to the highest level in 2008, no one rider has been more successful than Andre Greipel in the Australian event. Already in his first participation in that year's event, he won four stages and the overall.

Since then he has taken another 10 stage wins and repeated his overall win in 2010. This year, he showed his superiority when he won all three bunch kicks and he has been almost unbeatable in the big sprints in the Australian race.

In the last two years, the race has included a summit finish on the Willunga Hill which will be repeated in 2014. Hence, the days when Greipel can win the race overall are gone, but the race has offered him the perfect preparation for the season where he has taken a position as one of the best sprinters in the world.

With good memories from the Australian race, it is no surprise that Greipel will kick off his 2014 season Down Under. Having started his training three weeks ago, he is currently in his native Germany but plans to escape the cold of Northern Europe when he travels to Portugal this week.

The time on the Iberian peninsula and the subsequent Lotto Belisol training camp which starts on December 8, will allow him to adapt to the conditions that he will face in Australia.

"The aforementioned summer is no longer so far away, at least not for me, as I will as almost traditionally start my season in January at the Tour Down Under which is known to be anything but wintry and often has been successful for me in the past," he writes on his website.

In 2013, Greipel won 12 races, including a stage at the Tour de France and his first big one-day race, the Brussels Cycling Classic. Since he joined his Belgian team in 2011, the French grand tour has been his major target and it will be so again in 2014.

"Of course such a start is always an important foundation for the entire season," he wrote. "I will also not change much in my preparation as the program from the previous year has proven to be very solid and effective. We will discuss the rest of the race schedule during the training camp and the Tour de France is of course once again the focus for me.

"But those who know me also know that I want to deliver a good performance in every race, both for myself and my team," he added. "I look forward to the new season and am looking forward to the first race - also to see my colleagues that continue to improve from year to year in my specialty, the sprint. It's an extra motivation for me to give everything in 2014."

In 2014, Greipel will be again be one of the leaders of the Lotto Belisol team which has strengthened its roster considerably with the signing of riders like Maxime Monfort, Tony Gallopin, Pim Ligthart and Kris Boeckmans. The German sprinter can once again rely on his famous train consisting of Adam Hansen, Marcel Sieberg, Jurgen Roelandts and Greg Henderson who will all stay with the Belgian team.