Team Orica-GreenEdge announced its final squad for the Vuelta a Espana 2012
Australian side, Team Orica-GreenEdge marked a successful debut at the UCI World Tour level with numerous top performances in the first half of the season.
The only ingredient missing in the team is a Grand Tour victory and the team’s General Manager Shayne Bannan has noted that the side needs to refocus efforts to make an impression at the Grand Tour races in the coming season.
Team Orica-GreenEdge currently holds the seventh overall position with 620 UCI points to its credit after the UCI World Tour team’s rankings.
Simon Gerrans (270 points), Michael Albasini (183 points), Matthew Goss (74 points), Luke Durbridge (56 points) and Svein Tuft helped the team with 37 points during the 2012 season.
Team Sky leads the category with 1318 points with Team Liquigas-Cannondale (988), Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step (826 points), Team Katusha (771 points), Team BMC (655 points) and Team Astana securing the 622 UCI points.
Simon Gerrans entered the history books by securing an overall victory at the UCI Inaugural Event, the Santos Tour Down Under.
“We saw that when he was under 23 world champion in Geelong," Bannan voiced. "Then we saw it in his first WorldTour event in 2011 where he won the Stirling stage at the Tour Down Under”.
“He is a great talent and Rabobank has done a great job with him - giving him a really diverse race program and we believe he's one of the big potentials for the future".
"I think what we've seen in the last couple of weeks with our performances at the Eneco Tour which is a WorldTour event - we have turned it around," Shayne concluded.
The Australian side is now looking ahead at the final Grand Tour race of the season, the Vuelta a Espana, scheduled from August 18 to September 9, 2012.
Winner of the Vuelta a Espana will be awarded with a170 UCI points while the second and the third positions holder will secure 130 and a 100 points in the respective order.
The final list of nine cyclist to represent Team Orica-GreenEdge at the Vuelta a Espana include, Allan Davis, Simon Clarke, Julian Dean, Mitchell Docker, Cameron Meyer, Travis Meyer, Wesley Sulzberger, Daniel Teklehaymanot and Pieter Weening.
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