Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) has been the form rider from the leading sprinters at the start of the season, with the German and his Lotto-Belisol blazing a trail through the first three months of 2014.

Greipel has registered six stage wins to date, including a spell in the yellow jersey during the Tour of Oman, but it is not just in the sprints that the 31-year-old has excelled. In Oman, the sprinters were not expected to feature at the end of an undulating stage three, but not only did the Gorilla stay right in contention over the punchy finale, he went on to win in style.

It was a similar story at the Tour Down Under, where he performed superbly to lead the way over all but the toughest climbs while Jurgen Roelandts proved himself as one of the very best lead-out men in the business.

However, question marks remain as to whether Greipel has hit his showed his cards too early after returning from Tirreno-Adriatico without a stage win. Outsprinted by Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) on stage two, Greipel’s team-mates were then involved in a big crash on the penultimate stage. Greipel, Marcel Sieberg and Jens Debusschere all did not start the final stage time trial, and what sort of condition the Lotto-Belisol train will be in remains to be seen.