Riders on new WorldTour teams debuting at Santos Tour Down Under

The start of the WorldTour is inching closer, with the gun of the 18th Santos Tour Down Under ready to fire in just over two weeks. Most of the 20 teams racing in Australia have confirmed their rosters, and many newly transferred riders–among them Canadians–will be making their team debuts.

The most notable debut will be Richie Porte’s for BMC. Runner-up to new teammate Dennis Rohan when he was with Sky, the Australian will be looking to start the season with a bang on his journey to co-captaining BMC at the Tour de France with American Tejay van Garderen.

Some questioned the wisdom of South African Louis Meintjes leaving South African squad MTN-Qhubeka for Lampre after cracking the top ten of the 2015 Vuelta a España. Meintjes might have felt more than a little conflicted after MNT-Qhubeka, now Dimension Data, received a WorldTour spot. But he’s ready to roll for the Italian squad.

Nelson Oliviera of Portugal left Lampre for Movistar after a solo stage win at the Vuelta. He’s best known for his chrono capabilities, but there are none Down Under.

Estonian Rein Taaramäe used to be Cofidis’s GC man, but after a decline in results he joined Astana for a year to help Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru. However, he got hot in September of 2015, winning the Vuelta a Burgos and the Arctic Tour of Norway. Katusha came knocking and signed Taaramäe, the Guy With All the A’s, for two seasons.

An entire team is making its WorldTour debut, and though bigger signings like Mark Cavendish and Igor Anton aren’t in Australia with Dimension Data, an integral part of Cav’s train, Mark Renshaw, will be looking for victory on home soil after two years with Etixx-QuickStep.

The Santos Tour Down Under runs from January 19-24.