After winning the most races out of any male pro rider in 2014, Andre Greipel is starting his season later at this weekend’s Challenge Mallorca rather than at the Tour Down Under, so that he is at his peak for his spring goals, Milan-Sanremo and Gent-Wevelgem, as he told CyclingTips.

“Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem will be a main focus this Spring,” Greipel told CyclingTips at a construction trade fair in Munich. “I want to find out if I will be relatively more fresh in the final of those classics without having done Tour Down Under.”

The 32-year-old German is also looking to shine in Paris-Roubaix, after a puncture took him out of the front group last season.

“I was in the final of Roubaix last year until I had a flat. I want to try it again next year because you never know. Flanders is different. I will ride in support of the team because I have to be realistic on that course. Roubaix is flat, Flanders is not.”

He doesn’t expect to win wither of the two bunch sprints in Mallorca, coming eighth on day one and with the final stage on Sunday. He is heading to the Volta ao Algarve and then Kuurne-Brussels-Kurrne, where he will further fine-tune his form ahead of Sanremo.

Greipel spoke about the addiction of sprinting and the gratitude he feels towards his leadout men, those who without whom he would not be as regular a winner as he is.

“Winning is the great thing about sprinting. It’s about adrenalin. It’s an addiction, just like basejumpers who keep jumping too.”

“These guys can easily win races themselves but they sacrifice their chances for me. I always say that we win together and we lose together. A sprint train is all about trust and I always want to bring back the focus to the team. I have known Siebie [Marcel Sieberg] since we were 11. We raced together in Germany and are the only ones of our age group left. I trust him 100%. He calls the shots in a sprint and I follow.”

He says that Marcel Kittel is beatable, and that it is not about watts, but the positioning of his leadout train and being smart that really counts in the final few hundred metres.

“It’s now all about position, to be there at the right time and the right moment. The watts are not as high as you might think. It’s also about being the smartest. Giant-Shimano were the smartest in last year’s Tour de France. They used our power, they just were smarter.”

At 32, he knows he is nearing the end of his career as a top sprinter, but he is happy to remain at the team to pass on support to the younger riders that have recently arrived at the team, like Tiesj Bennot, jasper De buyst and Sean De Bie to name but a few.

“I am always open to help these young guys with advice. If someone else becomes faster than me, I will help them but I have to know that they really want to learn from what I say. Andreas Klier taught me so much about racing tactics and attitude. I hope these young guys will one day say the same thing about me,” he concludes.