Gallery: GreenEdge goes for laid-back team presentation in Melbourne

On the busiest street for cycling traffic in Australia, the 30 riders of GreenEdge were presented to the public and the media in their spiritual home of Melbourne on Saturday – the only official media event from the two-week training camp which is due to wrap up on Monday.

Out the front of the Melbourne Town Hall on Swanston Street in the CBD, the first Australian team in the WorldTour were dressed in casual shirts and jeans and did their best to look fresh-faced after a night with financial backer Gerry Ryan, owner of 2010 Melbourne Cup winner Americain, at the Mooney Valley races. Meantime, City of Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle welcomed the group.

After just over a week in the nation's capital, Canberra, undergoing physical and medical testing at the Australian Institute of Sport, the festivities of recent days had included a training session with Melbourne Storm rugby league team, along with the odd round of golf and go-karting.

The affair was very relaxed, with curious and not-so-curious onlookers passing by on the footpath their minds seemingly more on the task of their Christmas shopping, while the constant hum of the trams provided a constant reminder of the location.

Along with the riders, key staff members including Neil Stephens and Matt White were also in attendance, with an official announcement regarding their roles with GreenEdge expected in coming weeks.

Perhaps a little hurried, time was at a premium with the GreenEdge team's next appointment at the home of Australian music industry identity, Molly Meldrum, where curiously a team song was to be recorded. Still under wraps, the song is believed to be a re-working of a Tom Petty tune. On the penultimate day of the first official team camp, GreenEdge was indeed in wind-down mode with team bonding being the prime focus.

Click here for a full photo gallery from the event.

 

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As a sports journalist and producer since 1997, Jane has covered Olympic and Commonwealth Games, rugby league, motorsport, cricket, surfing, triathlon, rugby union, and golf for print, radio, television and online. However her enduring passion has been cycling.

 

Jane is a former Australian Editor of Cyclingnews from 2011 to 2013 and continues to freelance within the cycling industry.