In Rui Costa and Diego Ulissi, UAE Team Emirates have two outside chances for overall victory at the Tour Down Under. Former world champion, Costa makes his debut at the WorldTour race while Ulissi won a stage and finished third overall in 2014.
After Costa won the Abu Dhabi Tour and Ulissi took victory at GP de Montréal and the Tour of Turkey’s general classification in 2017, the team is gunning for more success with the duo to kick start the team's 2018 WorldTour season, while new leader Dan Martin, Alexander Kristoff and Fabio Aru opt for a more traditional start to the season.
Guiding the team Down Under is Philippe Mauduit in his first race with UAE Team Emirates. Mauduit was the sports director with the duo in 2015 and 2016 on the Lampre-Merida squad, reuniting this season having spent last year with Bahrain-Merida.
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"When you have two guys like Rui and Diego, even when it is the beginning of the season, we are here to try and win," Mauduit told Cyclingnews of the team tactics for the race.
"Whether we make it or not, we don't know yet. There is a big bunch here and we know that some guys are already ready and eager to win as well. With the team we have, we have to try. It is an obligation. I know the riders are ready and maybe somebody is more physically ready than us, but we'll see day by day. After Stirling, we will have a small idea of what is possible or not."
With Willunga Hill better suited to the pure climbers of the bunch rather than UAE Team Emirates' puncheurs, Mauduit is looking to the stage 2 finish in Stirling, where Ulissi won in 2015, and the new Uraidla stage 4 finale as opportunities to shake up the GC.
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