Bouncebackability – a term coined by football manager Iain Dowie, and which made its way into the English dictionary, is a quality certainly befitting Andre Greipel on the early evidence this season. Defeated by Marcel Kittel in the People’s Choice Classic and Simon Gerrans on stage two of the Tour Down Under, back ‘The Gorilla’ came with two stylish, emphatic victories in the latter half of the Adelaide race. And again in Qatar he proved you can’t keep a good man down, storming to victory after his photo finish defeat on stage four.

Waxing lyrical about Greipel’s sprint train has become a regular occurrence this season, but the comparisons with the former HTC-Highroad set-up are certainly apt. The clockwork precision of the team in red is awesome to watch, and the timing with which Jurgen Roelandts hits the front to drop Greipel off is impeccable – so much so, he has earned his own fair share of top-ten results already this season. And with such backing, it is easy to see why Greipel has bounced back so emphatically from his defeats so far this season. Call it bouncebackability, call it what you like,  just don’t anger The Gorilla – he will make you pay.