Orica-GreenEDGE started off their season in a quiet way, as the People’s Choice Classic was driven on the home soil of the team. The team finished outside the top 10, when the team had no rider in the 11-man group, which got away from the rest of the peloton.

“The plan was to save ourselves during the race for the final sprint,” said Sport Director Matt White. “But that changed mid-race. There was quite a big crash early on with about seven or eight guys involved, and one seriously injured. There was an ambulance on the course following that. The race kept going, but it was chaotic.”

Giovanni Visconti was the one, who suffered the most from the crash. He needs to undergo a leg surgery.

 “We were lucky none of our guys were caught up in the crash,” White continued. “But things were a bit dangerous out there, so the guys decided not to contest the final sprint, mainly due to the tricky last corner. It was a good decision- the big picture for us is Tour Down Under.”

Caleb Ewan is driving the Tour Down Under with the UniSA-Australia team and will join Orica-GreenEDGE later on.

“It was an impressive effort by Caleb,” said White. “He went head to head with the two best sprinters in the world tonight. We’re looking forward to having him onboard.”

The start of the Tour Down Under was threatened by the ongoing bushfire in Australia, but the weather has changed for the better and the stage will start as scheduled.  

 “Nothing changes for us after tonight. We will just go for an easy ride tomorrow and focus on the race ahead. The weather has finally cooled down here, and the good news is that it looks like stage one will go ahead as planned. The bushfires that were threatening that region are under control. So everyone is ready for the race to get underway on Tuesday.”