Australian pro cycling team Orica-BikeExchange believes Team Sky's stranglehold over the Tour de France may be loosened by the unconventional 2017 route and are relishing the prospect of a battle of "aggression" on the road.
The course unveiled this week, which starts in Duesseldorf on July 1 and ends in Paris on July 23, is peppered with a number of steep climbs early in stages.
Organisers hope it will reward attacking riders and prevent top teams like Sky and Movistar from locking down stages with tactical group riding.
Sky's meticulous organisation has propelled champion Chris Froome to the title in three of the last four races and prompted criticism that cycling's showpiece has become a dull spectacle.
But Orica-BikeExchange sport director Matt White is optimistic the new route will bring badly needed suspense back to the Tour.
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"I like it. Obviously, I'm thinking of it greedily for us and our particular team but it couldn't be much better," the 42-year-old Australian said.
"The style of riding will have to be aggressive. But there will be certain times and stages where we can get stuck into it."
White sees the lack of individual time trials as opening the door slightly for other teams.
"Chris Froome is such a good time trialler," White said.
"With less time trialling kilometres, it won't be won and lost in the time trials. It'll be decided a little bit more out on the road."
White already feels confident of consolidating recent gains made during next year's Tour.
"The team has evolved over the last three-four years. We were really hunting for stagers (initially) and that's the only thing we could really do," he said.
"That's changed now that we've got such young talent who are capable of challenging.
"Our challenge is to keep them there and try to improve on those results."
