ORICA-GreenEDGE will have one last hit out before the official start of the Classics season, lining up at the GP Nobili in Italy on Thursday.

The outfit first road the 1.HC event last year with multiple track world champion Leigh Howard finishing fifth.

The 25-year-old will again line up, this time in support of Danish neo-pro Magnus Cort should the race come back to a reduced sprint. 

Should it not, ORICA-GreenEDGE have multiple options in 2014 Tour de Suisse stage winner Esteban Chaves, 2013 Italian champion Ivan Santaromita or 2015 Jayco Herald Sun Tour champion Cameron Meyer to race on the front foot.

“We have Magnus if it comes back together, and we have Chaves, Santaromita and Cam Meyer if it does become very aggressive, to go in the moves,” sport directorMatt White explained.

“It’s a relatively flat course for the main part and then we do a couple of circuits. The circuits are hilly, there is a climb on each lap.

“It will definitely split on the climb, it’s just whether it comes back together, or how big the group is when it comes back together in the final.”

2014 RideLondon Classic winner Adam Blythe and Dutch engine Jens Mouris round out the seven-man team that will bring a few different groups of riders together.

“It’s a bit of a mixed bag coming in. Half of the team are coming from Malaysia, a couple of the guys haven’t raced for a few weeks and a couple will go straight from Tirreno,” White said.

“There is a couple of reasons why we do races like this, its to give the younger guys a lower level race every now and then and it’s a good hit out before they go onto the next phase of the season.”

ORICA-GreenEDGE for GP Nobili (Thursday, 19 March):

Adam Blythe
Esteban Chaves
Magnus Cort
Leigh Howard
Cameron Meyer
Jens Mouris
Ivan Santaromita