Orica GreenEdge have admitted that they are delighted to be entering their first Tour De France which starts tomorrow in Liege.
At a press conference at the Liege Country Hall, the new for this season Australian team managed by Matt White were unveiled.
White said that it was a fantastic feeling to have an Australian team in the Tour De France and to be given the opportunity to run the team was also fantastic. We discussed the possibility of a team in 1998 at a barbeque in Italy and now our day has come and we are going to enjoy it.
The GreenEdge team are led by Simon Gerrans but have sprinter Matt Goss who has helped Mark Cavendish to the Green Jersey, in their ranks along with the likes of Brett Lancaster, Michael Albasini, Baden Cooke and the highly experienced Stuart O'Grady who used to challenge for sprints with the best of them.
Goss, who formerly rode for HTC Highroad along with Mark Cavendish, admitted that he learned how to race with Cavendish and has a good, strong team around him to help lead him out in a race where he feels lots of riders are capable of winning each stage.
The team will have a day to day strategy for race tactics as they focus on their goal of a first stage win for Australia.