Tuft heads back to the WorldTour with GreenEdge

A "super hard work ethic" has landed Canadian Svein Tuft a spot in Shayne Bannan's GreenEdge project, with the 2008 world time trial silver medallist firm in the belief he has plenty to offer in the UCI WorldTour despite being 34.

Just this week, Tuft, riding for Canadian outfit SpiderTech soloed to victory at the GP Stad Zottegem giving the team their first win in Europe this season. Steve Bauer's squad announced earlier this month that Tuft would be leaving for the ProTour in 2012, but his destination was unknown until today.

"The thing I'm looking forward to most about being part of a new Australian team is racing the hardest races in the world with a strong crew that I know are capable of winning at the very highest level," Tuft said in the GreenEdge media release.

"I really like the energy Australians have for bike racing. They race hard but have a lot of fun doing it. You still need to have a good time racing your bike at the end of the day."

With SpiderTech still a season away from joining the ProTour, Tuft explained that 2012 was the year he felt he should test himself against the world's best.

"I owe a lot of thanks to Steve Bauer and Josee Larocque, from SpiderTech-C10, who bailed me out of a tough situation in December and got me a great racing program with a lot of my good friends from Canada," Tuft said, having found himself without a ride for this season after the demise of Pegasus Sports.

"Leaving SpiderTech-C10 has been one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in my cycling career as I think what they are doing for Canadian cycling is fantastic," he continued.

"But I had to make a personal decision to get back to the UCI World Tour where I believe I have plenty more to give."