Danish neo-pro Magnus Cort will lead ORICA-GreenEDGE’s ambitions for stage victories at the Tour des Fjords from this Wednesday.

In good news for the outfit, the five-day Norwegian Tour will also serve as a return to racing for 2014 Tour of Turkey champion Adam Yates and Canadian championSvein Tuft.

The Tour des Fjords is characterised by punchy stages and having won a stage and finish second overall at the event last year, Cort will have the support of a WorldTour team to lead him to more success.

“For sure we will be looking for a stage win,” sport director Matt Wilson said.  “Magnus will go there as our leader and depending on how the stages are looking and how it plays out, possibly for the general classification as well.

“I am expecting a really aggressive sort of race and one that it quite hard to control.

“I haven’t seen the full start list yet but I would expect that we would have one of the strongest teams so a lot of the responsibility will lie with us. That will make it a tough five days.”

Off the back of an incredible start to the year and two recent stage wins at the Tour of Norway, last years champion Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) looks set to be a formidable rival.

Amongst those helping to control for Cort will be strong domestiques Damien Howson and Christian Meier whilst 2014 Tour of Alberta champion Daryl Impeywill be of valuable support and guidance in the finales.

“If Kristoff is there again he will definitely be one of the biggest challenges,” Wilson said. “He has obviously still got good form and he is a tough guy to beat – he can climb and he can sprint, so he is just so strong.”

Yates and Tuft will also be valuable resources for ORICA-GreenEDGE. With the lack of any real mountain stages, the priority for the pair is getting race days back into their legs.

“Adam and Svein’s focus for this Tour is preparation for races to come,” Wilson said. “They are coming back from injury, Adam with his hand and Svein with his sternum, and trying to get back into good form.

“That’ll be their major goal.”

ORICA-GreenEDGE at Tour des Fjords (27-31 May):

Magnus Cort
Damien Howson
Daryl Impey
Christian Meier
Svein Tuft
Adam Yates