Orica-GreenEDGE has made a quiet start to the final race of 2015, Abu Dhabi Tour, featuring outside the top ten on a scorching stage one.

As temperatures hovered over 40 degrees, the opening day of racing was shortened with the removal of a 14km local finishing lap due to the extreme heat.

After an earlier breakaway and solo countermove, day one of the inaugural tour resulted in the expected sprint, won by Andrea Guardini (Astana Pro Team).

Two-time Vuelta a Espana stage winner Esteban Chaves finished in the safely bunch as Orica-GreenEDGE's top finisher in 31st position to hold onto the outfit's overall ambitions.

“Today was the longest day, we started in the desert and we finished in the desert, so it was always going to be a warm one,” sport director Matt White said. “The temperatures are a little higher averages than normal but the next few stages are shorter and sharper and I think we’ll see more aggressive racing.

“The focus for us was always going to be with general classification. The race has some really strong sprinters here and those that could manage the heat contested the final today.”