Orica-GreenEDGE had a mission of limiting their time losses in the opening prologue of the Herald Sun Tour. WithSimon Clarke taking 9th, Simon Gerrans 11th, and Cameron Meyer 18th, the team is satisfied with the outcome and is now ready to split the race to pieces in the crosswinds forecasted for tomorrow.

The Jayco Herald Sun Tour kicked off this evening in Melbourne, with a spectacular 2.5 kilometre twilight prologue around the banks of the Yarra. Victorian Simon Clarke was the best finisher for ORICA-GreenEDGE, claiming ninth place behind winner Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp). Simon Gerrans slotted into eleventh position, with Cameron Meyer finishing just inside the top 20 in eighteenth.

“The course tonight was really technical and exciting,” said Sport Director Matt Wilson. “It went on and off bike paths and there were lots of tricky corners. Being such a short distance, it was super fast. The guys were really happy to get around unscathed and to not lose too much time.”

The three ORICA-GreenEDGE riders are now well-positioned in the general classification ahead of tomorrow’s first stage, a flat 116 kilometre road race from Geelong to Ballarat. Clarke now sits five seconds down on the general classification, with Gerrans under one second further back.

“Clarkey, Gerro and Cam were pretty close to the leader, so they’re all well positioned heading into the first stage,” continued Wilson. “Garmin are in a great position with a few guys up there in the overall. The racing really gets underway tomorrow. We’re expecting some strong winds and quite often in the Sun Tour, the race can be won and lost on the first stage, so we know anything could happen tomorrow.”

The opening prologue was added last year to Australia’s oldest stage race, now in its 61stedition, and made for some spectacular and spectator friendly racing around Melbourne’s CBD.

“It was a very exciting race tonight, with great crowds and on a beautiful night in Melbourne,” added Wilson. “We are happy to be back racing in Victoria, with a few local guys in the team. Everyone is feeling good; we didn’t have any issues tonight, so we’re looking forward to getting into racing tomorrow.”