From humble beginnings picking at sprint stages and TTs, to taking on the world’s best in Grand Tours with young GC riders who were built, not bought, Orica-Scott has come a long way in a short time.
When Orica-Scott, then Orica-GreenEdge, formed ahead of the 2012 season they were very much portrayed as an Australian team with an emphasis on winning one-day races, time trials and sprints.
The core of the team featured a glut of experienced Southern Hemisphere talent in the likes of Stuart O’Grady, Allan Davis, Baden Cooke, and, for a few months, Robbie McEwen, while the GC riders on the team were few and far between. Australia’s first ever WorldTour team had an identity but stage racing certainly was not part of it. On one hand, they won a Monument in their first year – Milan-San Remo. On the other, their best GC placings at the three Grand Tours were 121st at the Giro, 72nd at the Tour and 77th at the Vuelta.
In the five years since, Orica-Scott, under the stewardship of Matt White and his management team, have transformed their squad, morphing from one-day specialists to team time trial competitors and now, in 2017, one of the most exciting and dynamic stage-racing collectives in the sport. At the core are the Lancashireborn twins Simon and Adam Yates, who slipped through British Cycling and Sky’s fingers, and a Colombian climber, Esteban Chaves, whose career looked finished after a serious accident in 2013. It’s not an understatement to suggest that if all goes well all three riders could - and perhaps should - occupy podium positions at all three Grand Tours this season. They were one place – Adam Yates’s fourth in the Tour de France – away from doing it this year.
Whether luck, timing, unrivalled transfer acumen or a combination of many factors, Orica’s path has led them to the brink of Grand Tour success, and without losing the strengths that brought them their early victories.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2017-Ausgabe von Procycling.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2017-Ausgabe von Procycling.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Summit Ambition
With nine summit finishes and a testing third week, is the Vuelta the year's toughest grand tour, once again?
ZDENĔK ŠTYBAR
The Quick-Step Floors' Classics specialist on cars, climbs and Belgian fans
Mathieu Burgaudeau
The French teenager at Vendée U has already caught the eye of Direct Énergie
Jasper Philipsen
The 19-year-old Belgian won six races in his first year at U23 level, including a stage of the Baby Giro Six wins. That sounds impressive.
Richie Porte
The 2017 Pre-Tour favourite recalls the journey back to racing after his stage 9 horror crash
Greg Van Avermaet - On Top Of The World
The 2017 season saw Greg Van Avermaet finally clinch a debut monument, amid a run of major spring wins that helped propel him to the top of the WorldTour ranking. Procycling met the Belgian Classics king at his home to find out what's next.
Down Under UPS Its Game
What to expect from the Australian WorldTour season opener
Ryan Mullen
Trek's new Irish TT specialist on why the café run should be a bike-talk free zone
Dani Rowe
The Olympic gold medallist on how the track has influenced her road racing
Danny Van Poppel
Lot toNL's Dutch sprinter on his best and worst grand tours and crashing on the cobbles