Green Team, Seasoned Riders

So yes, it's about time for another GreenEDGE update.  No matter how hard I try to keep up, they're always one step ahead of me, signing up every rider they can find, particularly the Aussies.  There are, quite literally, only three Aussies in the ProTour peloton not riding for GreenEDGE, and about 10 or 12 who are!  Because it's simply easier in the sheer numbers with which I'm now working (credit to Shayne Bannan and Andrew Ryan for getting my fingers this run down), I'll list the riders joining Australia's new national team:

AUSTRALIANS

Jack Bobridge                                                 (Garmin-Cervelo)

Simon Clarke                                                  (Astana) 

Baden Cooke                                                   (Saxobank-Sungard)

Allan Davis                                                      (Astana)

Simon Gerrans                                               (Sky)

Matt Goss                                                       (HTC-Highroad)

Leigh Howard                                                 (HTC-Highroad)

Brett Lancaster                                              (Garmin-Cervelo)
Robbie McEwen                                             (Radioshack)

Cameron Meyer                                             (Garmin-Cervelo)

Travis Meyer                                                  (Garmin-Cervelo)

Stuart O'Grady                                               (Leopard Trek)

Wes Sulzberger                                               (FDJ)

Matt Wilson                                                     (Garmin-Cervelo)

OVERSEAS

Michael Albasini                                              (HTC-Highroad - Switzerland)

Fumiyuki Beppu                                             (Radioshack - Japan)

Jens Keukeleire                                              (Cofidis - Belgium)

Sebastian Langeveld                                      (Rabobank - Holland)

Jens Mouris                                                     (Vacansoleil - Holland)

Daniel Teklehaymanot                                   (neo - Eritrea)

Svein Tuft                                                        (Spidertech-C10 - Canada)

Tomas Vaitkus                                               (Astana - Lithuania)

Pieter Weening                                               (Rabobank - Holland)

The updates are coming in from GreenEDGE HQ thick and fast - every couple of days now.  There are even mock-ups of the team jersey floating around the ether, though it's unlikely to remain unchanged.  The big news on which everyone is now waiting is the announcement of whether GreenEDGE has a corporate sponsor in the wider community.  It's almost surprising, given how ready this team is looking, that someone hasn't already snaffled up the opportunity to put Oz well and truly on the world cycling map.

The Team with the EDGE

The more I hear, the more I'm convinced: this is certainly Australia's year in cycling.  Despite being all the way "Down Under", we're following up a maiden Tour de France win with our own first-ever ProTour cycling team - and what a bloody good team it's shaping up to be!

Despite the transfer season still not having opened, news is filtering through the cognoscenti of the line-up of the new Aussie team, which since the last update seems to include every Australian rider on the ProTour circuit.

Rumours were floating about the two big Aussie names the team was looking to sign - Robbie McEwen and Stuey O'Grady.  While not a peep has been heard from the Radioshack sprinter, Leopard Trek's O'Grady has indeed signed to GreenEDGE and is probably looking forward to riding in his national team for the first time ever.  As suspected, young Tassie rider Richie Porte has re-signed with Team Saxobank Sungard, and as expected BMC's Cadel Evans has also renewed his contract there.

But almost every other Aussie in the professional peloton seems to be jumping on board.  Two of my three top picks of the young Aussies were announced as being headhunted by GreenEDGE, and to my utter delight all three of them have been signed!  Jack Bobridge and brother team Cameron and Travis Meyer, who have more world titles between them than I can remember anymore (four, I think - two to Cameron and one to each of the others) have all jumped ship from Team Garmin-Cervelo to GreenEDGE, where I'm hopeful at least one of them will be given the chance to make their debut in a grand tour.

While all these signings were foreshadowed if not expected, a new name has appeared on the radar - Simon Gerrans!  Team Sky's 'Gerro' is returning to home soil with his national team.  As for the other Aussies, Mark Renshaw has left the folding HTC-Highroad team to join Dutch team Rabobank but there is no word on the rest, meaning riders like Matty Goss are still up for grabs.

There are of course a few international riders who've also been signed.  Promising young Eritrean neo Daniel Teklehaymanot was the very first rider to join the team, while Dutch talents Pieter Weening and Sebastian Langeveld have both left their national team to help boost GreenEDGE's Spring Classics profile.

Ironically enough, in their guide to rider transfers for this season, Cycling News had to retrospectively add GreenEDGE to the list of teams signing riders due to the large number of riders they were pinching from the other teams.  All bar one of these teams are ProTour teams who rode the Tour de France this year.  Is it just me, or is this a very promising omen for EDGE?

The Edge of News: GreenEDGE Cycling

Though the transfer season doesn't officially start until September 1st, most riders have their contracts for the following year sussed by the end of the Tour de France, as do most teams with their roster.  This year there was another team on the hunt in France - GreenEDGE, the ambitious Australian cycling team looking to get off the ground for next year.

The project's management team were scouting all the Aussie talent on the WorldTour circuit at this year's Tour, with the intention that Australians make up 80% of the team's cyclists.  Much to the delight of eager fans, word is already beginning to leak of the potential team roster prior to the official announcements in September.

The biggest win for the Aussie team is the signing of the Luxembourg team Leopard Trek's 2011 Tour road captain, Stuey O'Grady.  Acknowledged as one of the smartest and most experienced heads in the peloton, the Tour de France and WorldTour veteran has been named as the head of the Australian National Team for the London 2012 Olympics and will likely be team leader or road captain at GreenEDGE.

The other big name tipped to be lining up in green in Australia's own triple-green jersey.  Though having denied it for the past few days, Robbie McEwen of American team Radioshack is said to be switching to the Australian team as well.  McEwen is more likely to join in a management role, having announced 2011 to be his final professional season.

A disappointing hit and miss for the team has been young Tasmanian Richie Porte.  The 26-year-old, who made his Tour de France debut this year, has shown increasing skill in the individual time trial, coming fourth to World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara in last year's  Road World Championships, and bettering that in this year's Tour de France individiual time trial stage by coming 5th ahead of Cancellara's 8th.  Alas for GreenEDGE, Porte has renewed his contract with Danish team Saxobank-Sungard.

Word is also spreading of the untested young blood that GreenEDGE is seeking.  Of the number of Australians signed to WorldTour teams, not all are racing at the highest level yet, and of these GreenEDGE has two of my top three young Aussie picks in their sights.  Jack Bobridge is a former under-23 world champion and Cameron Meyer is Australian national time trial champion, while his younger brother Travis, despite not being in GreenEDGE's radar, is the former national road race champion.  All three ride for Team Garmin-Cervelo, and none have yet made their debut at a grand tour.  There has also been mention of Garmin's Australian directeur sportif, Matt White, who could be persuaded to follow his young countrymen across to their new national team.

The closer we get to the beginning of the transfer season and a new season of cycling, the more exciting and real it becomes that Australia is finally beginning to ruffle its feathers on the world stage of this beautiful sport.  A Tour de France winner and a potential national team all in one year - who would have thought?