Andre Greipel drew first blood in Australia with victory in the Cancer Council Classic.

Lotto-Belisol rider Greipel outsprinted Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen in the Tour Down Under’s pre-race criterium, with Garmin-Barracuda fast man Heinrich Haussler completing the podium.

And Greipel was quick to pay tribute to new lead-out man Greg Henderson, who moved to Lotto-Belisol from Team Sky, after firing an early warning shot to his sprint rivals ahead of the 2012 season.

“I tried to get a lead out train for this season and we got Greg Henderson in the team,” said Greipel.

“I worked with him pretty good in previous seasons so he is a main part in the success of the team for me. But I can’t forget Jurgen Roelandts, Marcel Sieberg and Adam Hansen – they are all really important to keep the train going. I think we’ve shown a pretty good effort today.”

A nine-man break formed early in the 51km race, contested over 30 laps of a 1.7km circuit, and neo-pro Nathan Haas (Garmin-Barracuda) began his debut professional season in style, winning three of the race’s four intermediate sprints, with Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) claiming the fourth.

The escapees were never allowed an advantage of more than 25 seconds, however, with Lotto-Belisol, Rabobank and GreenEdge controlling the front of the peloton.

The break was reeled in with seven laps remaining as the sprinters’ teams jostled for position, although Rabobank’s Mark Renshaw, racing under his own esteem having previously been so dominant as Mark Cavendish’s lead-out man at HTC-Highroad, was ruled out after a puncture in the closing stages.

That left Boasson Hagen to open the sprint but Greipel soon put the hammer down to waltz past the Norwegian all-rounder, who is among the favourites for overall victory.

Boasson Hagen said: “We lost Chris Sutton in the lead up to the final turn, I’m not sure what happened but that’s cycling. Everyone in the team did a great job, so at least we can be satisfied with that.”

Cancer Council Classic top 10

1) Andre Greipel (GER) – Lotto-Belisol – 1:03:16
2) Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) – Sky
3) Heinrich Haussler (AUS) – Garmin-Barracuda
4) Jose Joaquin Rojas (SPA) – Movistar
5) Steel Von Hoff (AUS) – UniSA-Australia
6) Jonathan Cantwell (AUS) – SaxoBank
7) Chris Sutton (AUS) – Sky
8] Jose Ivan Gutierrez (SPA) – Movistar
9) Greg Henderson (NZ) – Lotto-Belisol
10) Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) – Lampre-ISD