GreenEDGE announce squads for Santos Festival of Cycling

GreenEDGE cycling have confirmed both a men's and women's team who will face an elite field as part of the National Road Series, the road event being run in place of the Santos Tour Down Under from 21-24 January.

Mitchelton-Scott riders Grace Brown, Lucy Kennedy and Sarah Roy in action during the 2020 Giro Rosa. All will be in action at the Festival of Cycling Source: Getty Images

The Australian WorldTour squad has confirmed their teams that will contest the Santos Festival of Cycling four-day event.  

A National Road Series event is a long way from the WorldTour splendour of the Grand Tours and the classics, but it will be the familiar sight for many regular attendees of the racing in Adelaide as they see Richie Porte battling away with the Australian squad to determine who will be the ultimate victor. 

Porte will be racing as part of the national team, which in the past has been branded as the UniSA team, with no further details on the make-up of the team.

The GreenEDGE squad will be headlined by likely general classification hopeful Lucas Hamilton with the developing WorldTour star having 2011 Tour Down Under winner Cameron Meyer, Luke Durbridge, Alex Edmondson and 2017 Herald Sun Tour-winner Damien Howson in support. Kaden Groves will be their man for the sprints with young sprinter now in his second year in the WorldTour.

The women's field will see GreenEDGE as the pre-dominant team at present, though past editions of the race have seen strong national teams fielded full of Australians with WorldTour pedigree. Names like Sarah Gigante (TIBCO-SVB), Brodie Chapman, Lauren Kitchen (both FDJ Nouvelle Aquitane), Jessica Pratt (Canyon-SRAM but unconfirmed for 2021) and Lauretta Hanson (Trek-Segafredo) would be natural fits in this team.   

From GreenEDGE's perspective, Grace Brown and Lucy Kennedy have plenty of experience winning at National Road Series level, both learned to ply their trade in the NRS, with Brown the overall winner of the series in 2018. The pair are some of the strongest Australian climbers at present as well, and will relish the chance to attack Wilunga Hill for the first time in the women's race.   

With those stars of the Australian WorldTour peloton, mix in the best national-level riders from the premier Australian Continental teams and there will be plenty of interest in the races from both casual fans and aficionados of the domestic cycling scene.

GreenEDGE Cycling Men's Team:

Lucas Hamilton

Cameron Meyer

Luke Durbridge

Alex Edmondson

Damien Howson

Kaden Groves

GreenEDGE Cycling Women's Team:

Jess Allen

Grace Brown

Lucy Kennedy

Sarah Roy

Georgia Williams

Alex Manly (Guest rider)