"The Jayco Herald Sun Tour is our last opportunity to race in front of a home crowd and obviously a special race for our team and sponsors," sports director Matt Wilson said of the race. "We have Caleb Ewan in strong form and he will obviously be our choice for the sprint finishes. Mitch Docker and Sam Bewley are back into the line up to play a key role in the finale of these stages."
Ewan, 21, won his first professional race at the Herald Sun Tour as he went on to claim 11 wins in total in his first season with Orica-GreenEdge. With three Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic stage wins and the overall, the Australian criteirum title, and two stages of the Tour Down Under along with with the pre-race Down Under Classic already to his name, Ewan is still hungry for more success before resuming his season in Europe where he is likely to race the Giro d'Italia.
"The team is full of confidence after last week's Tour Down Under. We want to continue that success for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour - our last opportunity to race in Australia for the year," said Ewan who will wear the number one dossard, adding he believes there will be several opportunities for the sprinters in this year's race.
"I've had a look at the course. Stages two and three look like they'd be the most likely to end in a bunch sprint so it'd be great to walk away with a couple more wins before I head back to Europe."
Jack Haig was third overall at the 2014 edition of the race and despite it being his first stage race for the team, the 22-year-old will again look to finish on the podium.
"The general classification will be left a little more open. We have some younger riders like Damian Howson and Jack Haig who are both quality climbers," Wilson added. "On paper the final Arthurs Seat stage is the most difficult and important stage for general classification. That won't change this year, but often an earlier breakaway result can set the race up going into that last day, so we will be mindful of that and make decisions out on the road."
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Cyclingnews will have daily race reports and news from the Jayco Herald Sun Tour which starts Wednesday evening with a 2.1km prologue along Melbourne's Southbank.
Orica-GreenEdge for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour: Sam Bewley, Caleb Ewan, Mitch Docker, Jack Haig, Damien Howson and Christian Meier.
For the official 2016 Jayco Herald Sun Tour start list, click here
