Orica-GreenEDGE go into the Tour De Yorkshire this weekend with a fast young team looking to gain valuable experience and stage results in the three-day race that is rapidly growing in stature. Paris-Roubaix champion Mathew Hayman will captain the young squad with Australian sprinting sensation Caleb Ewan and British climber Adam Yates garnering the protected roles within the team.

The second edition of the three-day mini-stage race the Tour De Yorkshire begins on Friday covering 519kilometres through one of Britain’s most picturesque counties. Yorkshire played host to the Grand Depart of the Tour De France back in 2014 with 2015 seeing the inaugural edition of the race as part of the UCI 2.1 Europe Tour. A long history and association with British cycling coupled with challenging terrain marks the race as one of the interesting new events on the cycling calendar.

Sport director Matt Wilson is excited to be taking such a balanced team to the race.

“It’s a short three day race and it will be aggressive,” said Wilson. “We have a really good squad together for Yorkshire and I’m excited to be working with these guys. The team is well rounded with a fantastic balance of youth and experience not to mention speed. We will be well suited to the sprint finish on stage two providing we can keep Caleb (Ewan) at the front over the hills.”

“Adam (Yates) is super motivated and coming into some good form right now,” continued Wilson. “I think the undulating course suits him and the team will be supportive of him over the three day’s. We have had a successful spring classics period and we want to carry that momentum into these next races.”

Multiple track world champion Alexander Edmondson will provide support for Ewan and an important turn of speed alongside the experienced Luka Mezgec when it comes down to leading out the Michelton Bay Cycling Classic winner. Danish strongmen Chris Juul Jensen and Magnus Cort complete the line up with new Chinese signing Cheung King Lok making his third appearance for the team.

Yorkshire is an area of rugged natural beauty filled with steep hills and green valleys which means the race profile includes climbs in all of the three stages with stage two looking the most likely to end in a sprint finish in the relatively flat Town centre of Doncaster.

The Tour De Yorkshire runs from Friday the 29th of April until Sunday the 1st of May.

Orica-GreenEDGE at the Tour De Yorkshire (29th of April – 1st of May):

Magnus Cort, Alexander Edmondson, Caleb Ewan, Mathew Hayman, Chris Juul Jensen, Cheung King Lok, Luka Mezgec and Adam Yates.