Andre Greipel, two-time overall winner of the Tour Down Under, has formed a new team, the "Israel Start-Up Nation" and will return to stage racing in Australia in 2020.

Greipel has won 18 races in this first round of the UCI World Tour, and this year he will be joined by Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Elia Viviani (Cofidis), Simon Yates (Mitchelton Scott) and his teammate and defending champion Daryl Impey will also be competing.

Greipel won both the opening and final stages of the 2018 Tour Down Under, his last season with his longtime team Lotto Soudal.

The Tour Down Under has evolved in recent years into a race more suited to climbers and rulers, and the last time Greipel won as a complete sprinter was in 2010.

To help Greipel break the 2020 stage win record, his Israeli Startup Nation team includes 2019 Tour of Utah champion Ben Hellmans and Canadian climber James Piccoli, who finished second overall in the same event.