Robbie McEwen has reportedly signed for the new Australian team GreenEdge in 2012. The 38 year old, whose contract with Team RadioShack ends at the end of the year, had planned to end his season at the Tour Down Under next year but might continue beyond that and ride some of the Classics.
He has based himself in Belgium for most of his career but has decided a change is necessary for him and his family. "I will move permanently to Australia after this season with my family," said McEwen in an interview to Het Laatste Nieuws.
The accomplished sprinter is one of Australia’s best cyclists ever, with over 200 victories to his name. He's won the sprinters green jersey in the Tour de France three times and became the first Australian to do so.
"If I can, then after the 2012 Tour Down Under I will also ride the spring classics and possibly a portion of the autumn ones too. After that I see myself playing a role like Erik Zabel does for HTC Highroad."
Zabel, who is now retired, used to be one of McEwen main rivals when it came to bunch sprints and has since taken an advisory role at HTC-Highroad where he guides sprinters such as Mark Cavendish.
GreenEdge is a new team that will apply to be the first ever Australian cycling ProTeam in 2012. Team Manager Shayne Bannan spoke at the launch of the team earlier this year saying, “This is not about a short term bid to get a team in the Tour de France. We are aiming to create a team that will stay at the top end of world cycling for a long time to come and to give young kids, just starting to pursue their cycling dreams, something to aspire to.”
The team will look to have a predominantly Australian line up, but riders such as Sebastian Langeveld and David Millar have been linked to the set up in recent days. Millar has since denied the rumours of his move from Garmin-Cervelo to VeloNation.