Orica-GreenEDGE going on Tour de France attack

AUSTRALIAN cycling team Orica-GreenEDGE will have three “protected riders” in Simon Gerrans, Michael Matthews and Adam Yates when it takes aim at stage wins in the Tour de France.

Simon Gerrans will have his eyes on the flat and medium stages of this year’s TDF. Picture: Alison Wynd.

AUSTRALIAN cycling team Orica-GreenEDGE will have three “protected riders” in Simon Gerrans, Michael Matthews and Adam Yates when it takes aim at stage wins in the Tour de France starting on Saturday.

All-rounders Gerrans and Matthews will target the flat to medium stages while Yates is the team’s designated climber but is not chasing the overall general classification in the three-week Grand Tour.

Sports director Matt White has declared the team will approach every day of the Tour like a “Classic” and with Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Milan-San Remo champions on the roster, is expected to be aggressive and competitive.

OGE will be keen for a strong Tour de France as it looks to secure a new naming rights sponsor beyond next year after mining explosives maker Orica confirmed 2017 would be its last with the team.

But there is speculation team owner Gerry Ryan has already secured another major partner and an announcement could be made within weeks.

Gerrans and Matthews will be joined by reigning Paris-Roubaix champion Mathew Hayman who will captain the team and rising star Luke Durbridge as the four Australians on the nine-man team for the Tour.

The remaining spots have gone to Spanish climber Ruben Plaza who will support Yates in the mountains, Swiss all-rounder Michael Albasini, South African Daryl Impey who wore the yellow jersey in 2013 and Danish recruit Chris Juul Jensen who will make his Tour de France debut.

“We have a great degree of flexibility, experience and talent in the team for the Tour,” White said.

“Our objective is to target stage wins and we will be approaching every day like it’s a classic. We have a robust, versatile roster that can cope with the big effort required to compete and win in the Tour de France.

“Mathew (Hayman) is our road captain and his leadership and experience will be important to us throughout the race.

“Simon (Gerrans) has the most experience at the Tour de France (for the team) ... he has had great preparation throughout June with stints at altitude and racing at the Dauphine.

“He performs very well under pressure and has the ability to come up with the goods when the big goals are set.”

Yates was expected to be joined at the Tour de France by his twin brother Simon but he cannot return to racing until next month after serving a back-dated four-month ban for the team’s failure to properly apply for him to use asthma medication.

Still, Adam, 23, will be well placed to push for stage wins after finishing seventh overall at the Tour’s warm-up event the Criterium du Dauphine this month.

“Adam will be our guy for the mountains. There is no pressure to compete for the overall, that’s not our objective,” White said.

“He is versatile and can go head to head with the best of the climbers and this experience will be important for him.”

White is confident there will be no issues between Gerrans and Matthews, who have not seen eye to eye since last year’s world championships, with the team having a very clear plan and roles for each rider during the Tour.

Matthews is expected to leave the team next year and is reportedly headed to Giant-Alpecin while Gerrans still has another year to run on his contract.

Orica-GreenEDGE team for Tour de France:

Simon Gerrans (Australia, 36)

Mathew Hayman (Australia, 38)

Adam Yates (Britain, 23)

Daryl Impey (South Africa, 30)

Chris Juul Jensen (Denmark, 26)

Michael Matthews (Australia, 25)

Ruben Plaza (Spain, 36)

Michael Albasini (Switzerland, 35)

Luke Durbridge (Australia, 25)

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Originally published as Orica-GreenEDGE going on Tour de France attack