German rider Andre Greipel has returned to the Tour Down Under in style, winning the opening stage from Clare to Tanunda on Tuesday afternoon.

2008 Tour winner Greipel was forced out of last year's race after a heavy crash with a police motor cycle during the third stage saw the HTC Colombia rider shoulder surgery.

But the German sprinter responded in style by claiming a thrilling bunch sprint at the end of the 141-kilometre stage, to finish just ahead of Belgian pair Gert Steegmans and Jurgen Roelandts.

New Zealand's Greg Henderson from the Sky team was left in fifth position following the sprint as the emerging rivalry between Sky and HTC Colombia continued to evolve.

Greipel, though, praised his entire team for their efforts in helping him to initial win.

"We have a strong team," Greipel told tourdownunder.com.au. "I am on the podium but the whole team should be."

"It was a good final and a good warm up for the team."

"We took responsibility for the whole stage. The team made the difference, we started as a team and finished as a team," he said.

The race opened with a crash that involved numerous riders but by the end of the day, it came down to a Peloton sprint that saw 84 of the 132 competitors, including Greipel, finish with a time of three hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds.

Big names Lance Amstrong and Cadel Evans were among the top group to finish.

Evans, though, was involved in the initial crash and needed to have his shoe fixed during the race in a somewhat rocky start for the Australian veteran at his new BMC team.

Other big name Australians in Baden Cooke, Robbie McEwen and Chris Sutton all finished as part of the main group but Astana's Allan Davis had to give up any chance of defending his title from last year as the crash left him an unbridgeable eight minutes behind the main contenders.