Orica-GreenEdge head to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Tour with Michael Matthews and Esteban Chaves as its two leaders for its final race of the 2015 season with the parcours suited to both riders. The four day race features several sprint opportunities for the likes of Matthews and recently crowned world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) although the team are looking for overall success with Chaves, highlighting stage 3 as the most decisive in the battle for GC.
"Our priority here will be a general classification result with Esteban and I really think we have a good chance of achieving that," sport director Matt White said. "The so called 'medium mountain' day looks very rude indeed – an 11km climb at an average of 7% with steep ramps of 12%.
"I really do think that the Vuelta a Espana general classification riders and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) will fight it out for the race win."
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Chaves was eighth at Sunday's Il Lombardia with cramps hindering his ambitions for victory in the Italian monument. White added the 25-year-old recent results, coupled with the predicted warm weather, should see Chaves challenging for overall honours.
"The climatic conditions will greatly affect the racing," he said. "Temperatures are predicted to touch 40 degrees and will make this week testing for all."
Supporting Matthews' bid to continue his run of winning a stage in all but one stage race he's started in 2015 will be classics riders Mat Hayman and Jens Keukeleire with their expertise of riding in the crosswinds crucial for the 25-year-old to get the better of Tom Boonen, Marcel Kittel and Sagan.
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