Team Sky's riders are raring to go ahead of their pro debut in the Tour Down Under - and you can follow all the action with us.
New Zealander Henderson leads bid for Adelaide glory
Team Sky's riders are raring to go ahead of their pro debut in the Tour Down Under - and you can follow all the action as it unfolds here on skysports.com and the official TeamSky.com site.
We've already got interviews, previews, stage maps and profiles and will have reports and reaction after every stage as well as a daily highlights package on both websites and the Sky Player.
The Adelaide race, which starts with the Cancer Council Helpline Classic on Sunday, will feature a strong seven-man line-up from the BSkyB-backed outfit, headed by sprinters Greg Henderson and Chris 'CJ' Sutton.
New Zealander Henderson is among the bookies' favourites for overall glory in the first ProTour event of the 2010 season but his first aim is a stage win.
"If I can get up for a stage win then I will be really happy. The team are not putting a ton of pressure on me, which is nice, although I am doing that myself," he told TeamSky.com.
"Ideally I would like to try and get up the Willunga Hill both times too [in the fifth stage, next Saturday]. If I can do that then I should be able to do pretty well overall too."
Respect
But the overriding emotion heading into his first race for his new team is to put down an early marker, Henderson explaining: "What we want to do here is put Team Sky on the pro cycling map. We want to gain respect from the whole peloton from the very first race."
Home favourite Sutton's explosive sprinting skills will also be well suited by the relatively flat stages of the tour but he's happy to give his all in the name of team success.
He explained: "Hendy's going great so I'm here for him, no questions asked. I'm the younger guy so hopefully I can learn a lot from the older guys like him and Mathew Hayman."
And that team ethic was echoed by Hayman who has been delighted at the way the squad has gelled since getting together Down Under.
Ben Swift, Russell Downing, Chris Froome, and Davide Viganò only jetted into Australia last Saturday and the scorching temperatures are in stark contrast to the icy conditions back home.
But Hayman has been impressed with the way his teammates have achieved their current fitness levels.
"They've not been sitting around, I can tell you that. All the guys are all in great shape," he said.
"It surprised me a bit how they adapted so quickly," he added. "We've been having a great time in the build-up to the race and I hope it continues for the rest of the year."
Heat factor
When Swift was asked to sum up the difference between home in Rotherham and Adelaide, he replied: "About 50 degrees.
"It was so hot earlier in the week it was hard to breathe," added Swift. "You felt it burning your throat, and we were all going about with croaky voices. But the last couple of days haven't been so hot and I'm feeling really good now and looking forward to the race."
All this week, under the supervision of sports director Sean Yates, the team has been incorporating race drills in their three-hour training rides, and Swift says the preparation has gone to plan. "It's been going really, really well," he explained. "We've got a strategy, but I think in the race itself we'll play it by ear."
As Swift noted, most of the world's top sprinters are in Adelaide . "Only Cav [Mark Cavendish], [Thor] Hushovd and [Tom] Boonen are missing," he said. "It'll be tough, but we've got a few days to have a go at cracking it. If we keep trying and trying and finally crack it on the last day that'll be a result for us.
"We'd love to have a stage win and we'll do our best for that, but if we can work well as a team it'll bode well for the year, I think."
