Orica-BikeExchange to become Orica-Scott as part of a three-year deal with bike manufacturer

ORICA-BikeExchange will become Orica-Scott as part of a lucrative three-year deal with the bike manufacturer.

ORICA-BikeExchange will become Orica-Scott as part of a lucrative three-year deal with the bike manufacturer.

The partnership futureproofs Australia’s only WorldTour team, whose spectacular 2016 season took it from opportunistic stage winner to serious general classification threat.

Team owner Gerry Ryan said Scott Sports had “stepped up to the plate” as a co-naming rights sponsor after five years as the team’s bike supplier. Women’s team Orica-AIS will be rebranded as Orica-Scott.

Simon Gerrans in the new Orica-Scott team kit for 2017.

“They have seen the value and we are now a genuine general classification team,” Ryan told the Herald Sun.

“Five years ago when we started out, we knew that one day we would have the talent required to become a GC contender and now we’ve got three genuine chances (Esteban Chaves, Simon Yates and Adam Yates).

“It’s been building. You look at last season — a second in Italy (Chaves), Adam’s fourth in France was a bit of a surprise and then we go to Spain and get third (Chaves).”

Orica-Scott will remain about midway on the budget ladder among WorldTour teams in a sport known for its commercial ruthlessness.

“What’s happened is when Team Sky came in, they ­pushed the bar up in terms of budgets and others like Tinkoff jumped in and everyone ­realised this is not sustainable,” Ryan said.

“It was silly inflation that the sport could not maintain.

“There was as much as 15 million euros ($21.3 million) difference in budgets between some teams. We are way off the top pace; we are somewhere in between.”

Orica-Scott’s Robert Power, Mathew Hayman, Simon Gerrans, Michael Hepburn and Mitch Docker.

Ryan’s team continues to punch above its weight, fuelled by young, hungry riders and dedicated veterans.

“It’s all about culture and developing our culture,” he said.

“When you buy riders, we have a policy that when we ­interview the rider we look at him off the bike as much as on the bike. The character.

“A couple of the early ­choices we made, we chose some riders when we first started who are no longer there because of that.”

Ryan said the team’s strong culture was a major weapon in the pursuit of a maiden Grand Tour crown.

“They’re not easy (to win). We’ve set our sights on 2018 and hopefully we do a Western Bulldogs and get it early ­because they had 2018-2019 earmarked,” he said.

“The fact is we’ve got a couple of options. There’s no envy (among the riders) and that’s what I’m proud of. We’ve got our eyes on 2018, but we are a genuine chance next year.”

Originally published as Orica-BikeExchange to become Orica-Scott as part of a three-year deal with bike manufacturer