Matt Wilson (Garmin-Cervelo) heads to the sign on(Image credit: Mark Johnson/www.ironstring.com)
Six key recruits of the GreenEdge squad will line up for their final appearance for Garmin-Cervelo at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, which starts next Wednesday, October 12 in Whittlesea.
Australian road race champion Jack Bobridge and Australian time trial champion Cameron Meyer, brother Travis, 2007 Jayco Herald Sun Tour-winner Matthew Wilson, and Brett Lancaster will be joined by Heinrich Haussler at the 59th edition of the event which returns after a one-year absence.
Bobridge, Haussler, Cameron Meyer and Wilson will head back to Australia following their appearance at this week's WorldTour event in Beijing, China.
For Adelaide's Bobridge, it's only the second time this season where he'll be able to wear his national jersey on home soil.
"I will see how I go in the Tour of Beijing (this week), then see what comes in the early part of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and see if I can get a stage win," he said. The 22-year-old recently finished fifth in the elite men's time trial at the UCI World Road Championships in Copenhagen.
"For me by then it's the harder, the better, I guess. I know the weather, especially the winds at this time of the year, can affect the race, so let's see.
"And I am not forgetting that we have a strong team."
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"I grew up 15km from Arthur's Seat and its going to be exciting having the Tour there," he noted regarding the fourth and penultimate stage. "With the riders we've got and the local knowledge, I am sure that we can be very competitive.
"And that's important because looking at the other riders who are coming, I think this is one of the best fields ever at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. We are going to have four of us coming straight from Beijing, plus Travis Meyer and Brett Lancaster," Wilson said.
Cameron Meyer is looking to join Simon Gerrans (Sky) as the only rider to have won both the Tour Down Under and the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in the same year. Gerrans completed the sweep of Australia's two greatest stage races in 2006.
"But we are going to be a very motivated team – six Australians together looking to finish the season on a high.
"I am conscious of the open areas on the early days of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and it will be hard to keep the peloton together. I am looking to stage four as my best chance. The ride up Arthur's Seat looks pretty interesting. But anything could happen before we get to Arthur's Seat,"
Meyer will be looking to rediscover the early-season form in the inaugural Tour of Beijing and carry the momentum into one of his final races of the year.
"With five days of riding in Beijing and another three at the beginning of the tour, I will have a good chance to gain some race fitness before then," Meyer said.
"Before Beijing I have not had as many racing days as I would have liked but that's how it is in cycling. But being here in Beijing means I have the chance to gain some form out of it and then do well in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour."
