Australia's Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) finished third on stage two at the 2012 Tour de France(Image credit: Sirotti)
Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge)(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) drags teammate Matt Goss to the finish in Rouen(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) timed his sprint to perfection to win stage 5 ahead of Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff).(Image credit: Sirotti)
‘Gossy’ has the palmares to demand complete trust and support from his team mates when it comes to a bunch sprint. He’s won a silver medal at last year’s world championships, won Milan San-Remo, a stage of the Giro d’Italia and while he doesn’t win a lot, what he does win is big.
Orica – GreenEdge has brought a team to the Tour with the experience and ability of rivalling the best lead-out trains but Goss needs to show he can win against a Tour de France field - when each sprinter is at the top of their form. He’s got the speed to do it however this is the first year for the Australian team and while many of them are individually experienced in performing lead-outs, it still only six months since they first began riding together.
Goss will have to use every sprint opportunity to the maximum if he’s to challenge the likes of Peter Sagan (Liquigas – Cannondale), Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) and Andrè Greipel (Lotto Belisol) for the green jersey. Unlike Sagan he won’t capture many points when the race hits the mountains but if he can accumulate more points through bunch finishes, he won’t have to.
