It was an unpredictable precursor to the Tour Down Under as Germany's André Greipel, a relative unknown to most, upstaged his more fancied local talent to claim first blood among the sprinters in the Down Under Classic.

The fourth-year pro, not quite as muscled as his Australian counterparts Robbie McEwen and Mark Renshaw - the two riders he convincingly beat to the line Sunday evening in Glenelg - patiently waited for Graeme Brown's Rabobank train to tire before his High Road crew placed him in the hot seat two-and-a-half laps from home.

"The Rabobank team was all in front but they lost a lot of energy, especially the last two or three laps. We [High Road] said, 'Okay, now they are really tired, we'll start to pull now,’" explained Greipel.

But once there, the 25-year-old said, the rest was up to him.

Almost two months' solid winter training kept the double stage winner in last year's Sachsen-Tour in perfect position till the bell lap, and in what turned out to be a 300-meter drag race to the line between Greipel and Renshaw, the Rostock native found his legs spinning just that little bit quicker to win by half a wheel.

"That's why I'm here; I started training early and I'm really happy to win the first race of the season," he said. "Before the race, my teammates said we'll do the work for me, so I was responsible to win today.

"The last corner, I think the front guys found it difficult because of the sun and maybe the wind; I came from 10th position and it was ... perfect."

McEwen already admitted just prior to the race today he wasn't in top shape, preferring to concentrate on his first major objective, still two months away.

"Over the summer, I haven't raced as much as the last couple of years and that was a conscious choice - I'm aiming a bit further into the season," said McEwen. "Although I'm feeling really good, I'm not at the level I was at in my better years at the Tour Down Under - but I'm certainly not bad. I'm still going to give 100 percent, but we'll see if I can come all right out the other end.”

Added McEwen: "I want to have a real good crack at Milan-San Remo again and some of the northern classics, in particular Gent-Wevelgem, before my build-up towards the Giro. Last year, I had really good form in March by being just a little bit underdone in the second half of January, so I'll stay with that program."

The clock strikes seven
It was about as late a start as you could have it before the race would have been declared a night match, with floodlights and all setting the streets of Glenelg alight.

Described by Astana's Aussie sprinter Aaron Kemps as a very free-flowing course, the circuit had “bunch sprint” written all over it with just five turns in 2km, the second-to-last being a hairpin before a final turn took the riders onto a 400-meter finishing straight on Colley Terrace.

Rabobank's Bram de Groot decided to go from the gun, and this scenario of ones, two, threes and fours launching themselves off the front without much hope set the scene for virtually the entire 25-lap race. With a crowd of sprinters in the hunt, no breakaway lasted more than a lap, each circuit being clocked under three minutes, the attacks and ensuing lulls like the ebb and flow of a tide and just about as interesting.

With nine laps remaining Rabobank tried to control the situation for Brown, but even with the might of all six men working for him, it proved too large a task for just one team to manage.

As the sun began its journey below the horizon, the fading light and cold wind appeared to be to the detriment of those in front, barring Greipel, who shot from behind to take the victory from Renshaw and McEwen.