Michael Matthews returns to action making his 2021 season debut for the squad. Tirreno-Adriatico stage winner Lucas Hamilton will be given the opportunity to test himself in the general classification battle over the course of the eight days, backed by a group of riders coming off the opening weekend of cobbled classics races in Luke Durbridge, Alex Edmondson and Amund Grøndahl Jansen.
“I’m glad to be back with GreenEDGE Cycling after four years and being at Paris-Nice for my first race brings back some great memories for me," said Matthews. "I won three stages here in my last two years with the team and now we’ll aim to add to that tally next week."
“We have been working really hard during the winter, the team spirit is as good as when I left it and this motivates me a lot to work hard with the rest of the boys and do everything we can for the team. We have solid line up and I can’t wait to be back in the bunch as it seems like ages since we last raced our bikes.”
Alexander Konychev will make his first start of the season while Kaden Groves arrives off the back of the UAE Tour and will be key in positioning Matthews for the fast finishes.
The race kicks-off with a lumpy opening stage followed by a day for the sprinters and a short 14.4km time trial on stage three. The first summit finish takes place on day four, with a flat day to follow before the peloton go climbing again on stages six and seven. The racing concludes with a short 110km road stage that packs in five categorised climbs around Nice.
Team BikeExchange sports director Mat Hayman anticipated plenty of testing times ahead with the parcours and weather to play their part.
“As always Paris-Nice will be a challenging race as you always find some tough weather conditions during the stages," said Hayman. "This year it should be quite cold and also rainy in some of the stages, so we will need to plan the week of racing in the best way possible.
“We are pleased to have Matthews back with us this year and this will be his first official race with Team BikeExchange for 2021. Michael has won three stages between 2015 and 2016, so the hope is for some more victories at this year’s race. We have a strong team to help him achieve this.
“Also, we will try to put Hamilton in the best position for the general classification. Lucas has been developing a lot in the past couple of years and we will try to support him during the race to help keep his development growing during the season.”
Team BikeExchange at 2021 Paris – Nice:
Luke Durbridge (AUS)
Alex Edmondson (AUS)
Kaden Groves (AUS)
Lucas Hamilton (AUS)
Amund Grøndahl Jansen (NOR)
Alexander Konychev (ITA)
Michael Matthews (AUS)
The biggest names in Australian cycling are set to race the UCI WorldTour race, Paris-Nice, from March 7-14, with the race set to be broadcast LIVE on SBS HD.
