After a few weeks of rest, riders go back on their bike in order to prepare the next season. Some will play their first World Tour race in two months. Indeed, the Tour Down Under will be held from January 20 to 25. This race is one of the main objectives of Orica GreenEDGE Cycling Team. With Simon Gerrans as leader, the team will hope to shine at this 17th edition.

“We are going to the Tour Down Under to win again with Simon. We are bringing the whole team to ride for one guy. We are not looking for stage wins. We’re not being greedy”, Orica sport director Matt White told VeloNews.

This season, Gerrans won a stage and the overall classification.  He beat his compatriot Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) and the Italian Diego Ulissi (Lampre Merida). This will be at the start in 2015 and will certainly be motivated to add a line to his list.

“Simon is at the pinnacle of his career right now. We call him the ‘hit man.’ We just signed a three-year deal with us, and he’ll be finishing his career at Orica-GreenEdge. He’s won his biggest races with us, and he’s been a very positive influence on the team”, White added.

The 34 year-old rider did a big season with a victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And in 2015, he will have the same schedule. “He’ll be running a similar template for 2015, cleaning up in Australia, then the Ardennes, and later the Tour de France. I don’t think he ran 60 days this year [63 -Ed.], but he was always there for the win in the races that counted. He only had six race days after the Tour, and he won or podiumed in four of them. He’s an easy man to respect. He leads by example.”

White confirmed that the young rider Caleb Ewan won’t ride the Tour Down Under. “He’s very mature for his age, and he’s a born winner, but we’re not taking him to the Tour Down Under. He’ll ride the Sun Tour. We’ll give him the right mix of WorldTour and non-WorldTour races where he can win.”