Orica-BikeExchange aiming to make its mark in Emilia-Romagna
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Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange) attacked to take third overall(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Orica-BikeExchange's Adam Yates was a revelation of the Tour, winning the best young rider jersey and finishing fourth overall(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
An exhuberent Simon Yates wins stage 6 of the Vuelta
Stage 21 winner Magnus Cort (Orica-BikeExchange)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jens Keukeleire (Orica-BikeExchange) on the podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Australian WorldTour team is also sending the Simon and Adam Yates to the 1.HC races with director sportif Dave McPartland aiming for a good result at both races.
"Both races are relatively different but we have horses for courses both days. We have guys who are in really good form after the Vuelta and also the Canadian races, so we are aiming very high,"
"Saturday is going to be a really hard day and the main climb in the middle of the race is solid and usually whittles the bunch down to half. There's another medium climb on the way back to the finishing circuits where the guys then climb Saint Luca five times with the race finishing at the top."
Chaves' third place at the Vuelta was his second grand tour podium of the season after his second place at the Giro d'Italia in May. The Giro dell'Emilia and GP Bruno Beghelli will be his first races on Italian soil since May with the 26-year-old Colombian looking for a high result. After his breakthrough sixth place at the Vuelta, Simon Yates makes his second appearance on Italian soil in 2016 after his 95th place at Milan-San Remo in the spring. Brother Adam continues his run of one-day races after his fourth place finish at the Tour de France in July and will be aiming for his first win of the season.
Vuelta a España stage winner Jens Keukeleire adds horsepower to the squad for Saturday's Giro dell'Emilia that includes Ruben Plaza, Damien Howson, Jack Haig and Amets Txurruka.
"It's a tough hard one-day race and pretty much purely for climbers. We have a few different guys who could win this race," added McPartland. "It is pretty straight forward for us, we will look after a few key riders and in the very final it will be a case of who has come out of the recent racing well and we will make a decision then out on the road."
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For Sunday's GP Bruno Beghelli, Magnus Cort also makes his first post-Vuelta appearance after winning two stages on his grand tour debut. He and Mitch Docker will replace Haig and Txurruka in the line up with the percorso likely to produce a reduced bunch gallop. Cort and Keukeleire are likely to be the protected men should it come down to a sprint finish
"On Sunday the climb on each of the laps is less sever than the climbs in Saturday's race," said McPartland. "In the past the race has seen around 50 riders at the finish. It’s a tricky climb but it is short, around one and a half kilometres so it isn't long enough to do huge damage to the peloton.
"There is the potential it could keep coming back together and for that reason we have a slightly different team line up prepared for these two races."
Orica-BikeExchange for 2016 Giro dell'Emilia: Esteban Chaves, Jack Haig, Damien Howson, Jens Keukeleire, Ruben Plaza, Amets Txurruka, Adam Yates and Simon Yates. Orica-BikeExchange for 2016 GP Bruno Beghelli: Esteban Chaves, Magnus Cort, Mitch Docker, Damien Howson, Jens Keukeleire, Ruben Plaza, Adam Yates and Simon Yates.
