Stuart O'Grady heads to the start(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Stuart O'Grady (Leopard Trek)(Image credit: Mark Johnson/www.ironstring.com)
Stuart O'Grady is the latest recruit for Shayne Bannan's GreenEdge project, the veteran signing a two-year deal with the squad hopeful of gaining a UCI ProTour licence for 2012 and beyond.
"I've been racing for a long time and seen the evolution of Australian cycling from guys like Phil Anderson, Neil Stephens and Patrick Jonker to myself as part of the generation that followed and now we've got an impressive group of young riders coming through.
"For a country where cycling is a relatively small sport the progress in such a short period of time has been incredible."
The project's financial backer, Gerry Ryan told The Australian last week that: "Stuey has wanted to be a part of this project since we first went public with wanting to put a team at the Tour de France, back in Adelaide last January."
The 2007 Paris-Roubaix winner is the perfect fit for the team in its inaugural seasons with Bannan indicating that GreenEdge would be best-placed to focus on the Classics.
"Perhaps in four or five years we'd like to develop into a stage race team, but I think it's important to be realistic about the whole process," the general manager told Cyclingnewsearlier this year.
Today's news follows the announcement last week that GreenEdge had secured the services of Jack Bobridge, along with Cameron and Travis Meyer from Garmin-Cervelo, and multiple African champion Daniel Teklehaymanot. Bannan said that O'Grady's experience will prove to be a valuable asset to some of the younger members of the team.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"And you don't stay at the top end of any sport for as long as Stuart has without doing something right. He won a silver medal at the Olympics in 1992 when Travis Meyer and Jack Bobridge were only three-years-old so there's a lot he can teach our younger guys."
It's a role that the man himself plans to relish.
"There's no point having the biggest and shiniest ship in the ocean if you don't have a captain to steer it and I've think I bring plenty of experience at steering the ship."
As a sports journalist and producer since 1997, Jane has covered Olympic and Commonwealth Games, rugby league, motorsport, cricket, surfing, triathlon, rugby union, and golf for print, radio, television and online. However her enduring passion has been cycling.
Jane is a former Australian Editor of Cyclingnews from 2011 to 2013 and continues to freelance within the cycling industry.
