It’s not just the GC men who will do battle in Adelaide, with the sprinters getting a great chance to test their legs and several riders looking to impress their new teams.

Though he was out of form this time last year, Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) will be the man to beat in the bunch sprints as he looks to beat his 2014 season tally of 13 victories through the year.

Mark Renshaw and Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep) will be among his main rivals, alongside Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing), while British domestic fans will want to watch Steele von Hoff (UniSA-Australia), who will ride for NFTO this season.

Another UniSA-Australia rider to keep an eye on will be Jack Bobridge, who, like Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing), will be looking to build form ahead of his hour record attempt at the end of the month.

Orica-GreenEDGE are never far from the front of their home race either, and Daryl Impey could be their man for the overall, alongside the likes of Simon Geschke and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin).

And newly-crowned Australian champion Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling) will want to do his home fans – and the green and gold jersey – proud and clearly has the form after his national road race win.