Team Sky will be sending a strong squad for the opening race of the 2012 season at the Santos Tour Down Under.
Australian trio Chris Sutton, Mathew Hayman and 2002 winner Michael Rogers will be joined by Alex Dowsett, Geraint Thomas and new signing Danny Pate, with two-time Tour de France stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen rounding out a formidable seven-man line-up.
Sean Yates will again be Sports Director for the six-stage event, which runs from 17-22 January in and around Adelaide and South Australia and is precluded by the Down Under Classic on Sunday 15 January.
He said: “We’re sending out a very strong squad and Mick [Rogers] will be our main man for the GC. He was struggling with illness for most of this year but was flying at the end of the season and is highly motivated to ride well in his home country.
“CJ [Sutton] will be well up for getting some sprint wins as well and he’ll be coming into the race in good form after the Bay Crits and the National Championships. He has an absolutely fantastic lead-out train with guys like Danny, Mathew and Alex in there, and obviously Edvald and Geraint are right up there with the best in the business.
“We won’t be putting any pressure on Edvald and G though – they’ll be there primarily to work for the team - although if any chances come their way I’m sure they’ll be looking to take them.
“As a team we are big fans of the Tour Down Under. We’ve had fantastic starts to our seasons here over the last two years and we’ll be looking to keep that run going. It’s a WorldTour event and that offers a great opportunity to get some early points in the bag and hopefully set the scene for the rest for the season.”
