WorldTour ranking: 8/17
Win count: 28 (down from 35)
Top riders: Michael Matthews (20), Adam Yates (35), Simon Yates (36), Esteban Chaves (39)
The 2014 season was one of transition for Orica-GreenEdge as its younger riders stepped forward and took responsibility. Neo-pro Caleb Ewan won 11 races, including a stage of the Vuelta a Espana, Esteban Chaves finished fifth at the Vuelta and won two stages while the Yates twins continued their progression as Grand Tour contenders. Add to that Michael Matthews' consistently in hitting the podium in all except one race he started and there was much to like about the Australian WorldTour team in 2015.
With the highs come the lows and Simon Gerrans certainly came back to earth in 2015, having finished last season as the third best rider on the UCI WorldTour standings. A broken collarbone in a pre-Christmas mountain bike ride derailed his Australian national title and Tour Down Under defence, a crash on his return at Strade Bianchi set him back again while Leige-Bastogne-Leige also saw the 35-year-old hit the deck. The first maglia rosa of the Giro d'Italia was a rare highlight.
ADVERTISEMENT
For the first year in its history, Orica-GreenEdge failed to win the Australian title and a stage of its 'home' race, the Tour Down Under. Daryl Impey opened the team's account with the South African national time trial title, opening the floodgates as Cameron Meyer won a stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour the next day. Caleb Ewan made it two in a row before Meyer added the overall to his palmares, completing a rare Australian double. The wins kept coming at Tour de Langkawi via Ewan, and Matthews then opened his account at Paris-Nice, also taking the yellow jersey.
While Orica-GreenEdge won Milan-San Remo in 2012 with Gerrans, there weren't too many bookmakers taking large bets for Matthews for the first Monument of the season. Third place suggested the 25-year-old could be back in the seaside town as a winner in years to come. He followed it up with a win on the opening stage and the leader's jersey at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco.
A rather innocuous cobbled Classics campaign saw the team head to the Ardennes hungry for a result but an underdone Gerrans made it appear to be a hard task until Matthews stepped up again. A third place at the Amstel Gold Race demonstrated he'd added another arrow to his quiver.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://ift.tt/21eCpvb
No comments:
Post a Comment