Adam Yates and Ewan headline Orica-Scott's Tour de Pologne squad
Australian team targets stage wins and GC victory
Orica-Scott young guns Caleb Ewan and Adam Yates headline the team stage and GC ambitions at the 2017 Tour de Pologne. Both riders enjoyed success at the Giro d'Italia in May with Ewan winning a stage and Yates the best young rider classification.
Ewan has several top-five results in his two previous appearances at the Tour de Pologne and will be backed in for a win in his first race since June. Yates will receive team backing on the harder GC stages with sports director Dave McPartland outlining the dual-pronged approach.
"We have a really balanced team with a couple of guys who can really support Ewan on the stages that suit and then guys who can provide support for Yates on the hiller days. The team is really diverse and the type of riders we have will be able to cross over with their roles in supporting both Ewan and Yates," said McPartland. "Tour of Poland isn't a small race, it's WorldTour and I expect it will be really hard. We will have a measured, two-pronged approach to the racing with having goals for both sprint stage wins while also looking to the general classification."
Sam Bewley and recently crowned Slovenian national champion Luke Mezgec will primarily be riding in service of Ewan in the sprint days while Yates can count on support from Ruben Plaza, Rob Power and Jack Haig. With more mountains than previous years, McPartland added the team selection was adjusted as a result.
"It certainly looks on paper like a harder tour this year with three uphill finishes. I think Yates is in really good shape to challenge for the overall so it should be a good race for us with this strong mixed team," McPartland said. "Most of the stages are fairly short, around 150kilometres with stage four the only real lengthy stage, so it should make for a week of fast and exciting racing."
The 2017 Tour de Pologne starts July 29 with a stage in Kraków and concludes August 4 at Bukowina Tatrzanska.
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