André Greipel has been knwon for his ability to win races from January to October and has become the most successful rider in the Tour Down Under. However, as he feels the need to be fresher in key races, he has made the decision to start his 2015 season later than usual.

André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) will start the 2015 season with a modified schedule, not only because the German champion has decided not to start his season in Australia at the Tour Down Under for the first time in seven yers. In consultation with the team management, Greipel has also decided to do his first efforts "in the European area" as he tells radsport-news.com at the route presentation of the Bayern Rundfahrt in Nuremberg.

"I think I will do one or two races at the Mallorca Challenge and then really start mu season at the Volta ao Algarve,"  said Greipel who has decided to change his schedule despite the fact that his 16 wins made him the most successful rider in 2014.

"For seven years, I have been riding from January to October and I have noticed that I have lacked a bit of freshness in some races, not only in the legs but also mentally. Therefore I have asked my team for a longer break this year," said the 32-year-old who admitted that it was hard to skip the Tour Down Under where he is the record holder with two overall and 16 stage victories. "It was difficult for me to skip the Tour Down Under but I hope it will pay off."

Greipel hopes to notice the first difference in the spring classics where he wants to be a contender. "Milan-Sanremo is now again a clear goal for me," said the German who like many other sprinters has criticized the planned route change but now has improved changes after the Pompeiana climb won't be part of the course. "It's the same course as this year and so I definitely have an eye on Sanremo," said the German who reached the finish in Sanremo with the best group but was unable to play a role in the sprint due to cramps, rolling across the line in 24th.

But the Primavera is not the only goal for Greipel who also wants to be part of the action in cobbled classics like Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix. "Paris-Roubaix is ​​a race that I always like to ride. I want to see how far I can come," he said.

In May Greipel will have to decide between the Giro d'Italia and the Bayern Rundfahrt. If the two-time German champion has his own say, the matter will be clear: "Without devaluing the Giro, Bayern is for me as a German rider a nice race and it would be a wonderful preparation for July," he said, referring to the Tour de France.

Race director Ewald Strohmeier told radsport-news.com that Lotto Soudal already has an invitation for the only German stage race. Luckily, the schedule has been changed as the German race will take place two weeks earlier than usual (May 13-17) which will make it possible for Greipel to do both the race in Bayern and the our of Belgium, the home race of his team, in the beginning of June.

As the climax and most important race of the 2015 season, Greipel has again selected the Tour de France where he has won at least one stage in each of his participations. However, the team was marred by bad luck in 2014 and the team hopes for better fortunes in the 102nd edition of the race. "I hope that the sprint train will be complete in the Tour and that we won't lose an important rider already on stage 4," he said, referring to the early crash and withdrawal from lead-out man Greg Henderson.

Even though Greipel has been back in training since early November, he took a break of a month after his win in the Münsterland Giro on October 3. "For the first time since I turned pro, I did virtually nothig for four weeks. That was very nice even though it made it more difficult to get back into the routine of training," the Lotto captain said. Due to the changed schedule, he can allow himself to start his training with a more relaxed approach. "It is nice not to have to do sprints and intervals in November and December. Instead, I can for once just ride my bike."