This year Orica-GreenEDGE had a highly successful Tour de France and the Australian team will try to repeat the results in 2014. The team will once again target stage wins and an early stint in the yellow jersey and sees plenty of opportunities on the route that was presented two days ago.

When Orica-GreenEDGE debuted in the Tour de France in 2011, the team came away empty-handed and so they were on a clear mission when they travelled to Corsica for the start of this year's edition of the race. The team wanted to make amends and ended up having more success than they had ever imagined.

Simon Gerrans won the one stage he had targeted when he beat Peter Sagan in a sprint on stage 3 and one day later, the team took a narrow win in the team time trial. Gerrans took over the yellow jersey which he handed over to teammate Daryl Impey two days later and when Impey had to give up his lead on stage 8, the team's race was already a success.

Next year the team hopes to repeat its good results in the Grande Boucle and they will enter the race with a similar approach. Despite having signed several climbers for 2014 and gradually getting more focused on GCs, the Australians will once again have their sights set on stage wins.

General manager Shayne Bannan was present in the Palais des Congres when the route was unveiled last Wednesday, and he saw plenty of opportunities for a team with an aggressive mindset.

“This could be a quite interesting course,” he said. “I think we will see an exciting race until the end because of the climbs and the time trial. There is a lot of opportunity for teams early in the three weeks to make their mark before the general classification takes shapes in the Alps.”

The first week in particular offers a number of opportunities for Orica-GreenEDGE. Bannan pointed to the hilly stage to Sheffield on stage 2, the cobbled stage on day 5 and the lumpy stage to Nancy on day 7 as clear targets.

“We’re a bit disappointed that there isn’t a team time trial,” he said. “That aside, I think the first three stages in England are going to be very familiar to the first three stages in Corsica. I see several places for us to take our chances. The second stage, in particular, stands out to me. Stages five and seven are good for us as well.”

“We’ll send an aggressive team,” he added. “Our nine riders will be an all-around team capable of playing a role and taking chances in most stages. We have some really good, achievable goals next year. The second stage is a clear target. We’re also hopeful we can get the jersey during the first week again.”

While Bannan recognises that many teams shares the goals he has begun to outline for his squad, he is confident in his team’s chances. He believes success begets success – and two stage wins and four days in yellow in 2013 opens the doors for future wins and yellow jerseys.

“What we accomplished this year at the Tour was exceptional,” said Bannan. “It gives us motivation going into next year that if we do things correctly, we have a chance to pick up another stage win and wear the yellow jersey again.”

“Of course, every single team that rides the Tour has their own objectives,” Bannan added. “The thing that is different for us going into next year is that we’ve already done it. We have experience and results under our belt. We’re going into the Tour believing we can do it all again.” 

The Tour de France starts in Leeds on July 5.