Rob Power at the Tour Down Under team presentation with UniSA (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Rob Power, who is making his WorldTour début at the Tour Down Under with UniSA, will join Orica-GreenEdge from 2016. Jack Haig and Alex Edmondson will also join the team from 2016 and both are racing alongside Power in the wild card team this week in Adelaide.
Power announced himself in the U23 ranks last year with second place overall at the Tour de l'Avenir and a hat-trick of one-day wins in Italy at the GP Capodarco, GP Poggiana and the Trofeo Briga Novarese.
"Above all, I'm really excited to join a team with a great atmosphere and where I'll be training and racing with a great group of guys," Power said. "I think the team will help me become a better rider and I'm convinced that it will be the best place for me to learn what it takes to be a professional.
"It's already been very overwhelming, in a good way, to be part of the team camps and now riding next to some of the best riders in the world at the Tour Down Under.
Power is the youngest rider in the Tour Down Under and is hoping that the experience of racing against riders of the highest level will reap benefits during another year of U23 racing in Europe.
"I'm still only 19 years old and I'm very ambitious about this season on the development team," he said. "I want to go back to Europe and do better than last year and I think it will help me knowing that I have the next part my future in place."
Power is the latest of several young talented riders to sign for GreenEdge with team keen to secure his services off the back of his 2014 season.
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"Rob is one of the most exciting climbing talents we've seen in Australia cycling for a very, very long time," Orica-GreenEdge sport director Matt White said. "His results last year were incredibly impressive. He won some really high quality races in Italy and his second place at the Tour de l'Avenir was a clear indication of the immense talent that he's got."
With development a key word for the team's approach to its young talent, White added there would be rush with Power and zero expectation to start winning from the get go.
"We are seeing quite a few guys coming out of a different type of talent pool than the tracks these years and Rob is one of the best examples of that type of rider. I think he's got huge potential," White said. "The future is generally looking really bright for Australian cycling and the amount of talent is significant and there are a lot of riders for the WorldTour teams to pick from.
"The important thing for us as a team is to let them grow and develop progressively in a good environment without any added pressure. Most of these guys are still very young and we need to make sure they make the transition to the pro ranks in the best possible way."
