Orica GreenEDGE boss Matt White says Canberra young gun Michael Matthews can win next year's Milan-San Remo and he'll use Matthews and Simon Gerrans in a tag-team attack on the first 10 days of the Tour de France.
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White has also left the door open for veteran Mathew Hayman, who is the Orica GreenEDGE captain, to ride his second Tour de France after the 36-year-old was forced to withdraw from his debut at the world's biggest race last year.
Gerrans broke his collarbone in a training crash a week ago, ruling him out of the Tour Down Under, and White considered changing Matthews' schedule to include the first race of the international year.
But Matthews will continue with his original plan, which will see him start at the Paris-Nice on March 8 before targeting the spring classic Milan-San Remo on March 22.
He'll also be looking for stage wins and the leader's jersey at the Giro d'Italia before switching his focus to the Tour de France.
Matthews has a training camp in Spain in a week and then a high-altitude camp in South Africa in February.
"He can win Milan-San Remo, it's a race that suits him. He's going to have a lot of competition - it's one of the most prestigious one-day races we have on the calendar - but it definitely suits him," White told Fairfax Media.
"That's his first big focus and then his second focus is the end of April and early May ... the plan for the Tour of Italy is the same as last year and that's to win the team time-trial stage one and try to hold on to the leader's jersey for as long as possible, which worked very well last year."
Matthews and Gerrans are similar riders - not pure sprinters, but guys with a bit of speed that can handle a climb.
They are at vastly different points in their careers - Matthews starting out as the young talent trying to establish himself, while Gerrans is 10 years older and at the peak of his career.
White said they would generally target different races, but he plans to use them as a tag-team option in the Tour.
It was meant to be the plan for 2014, but Matthews had a bad training crash that ruled him out of this year's Tour and then Gerrans crashed in the first stage and eventually withdrew from the race after breaking his ribs.
"They don't race that often together ... the two of them are very similar, but I see it as a benefit for us," White said.
"We're going head-to-head with someone like Peter Sagan and some very, very talented athletes, but I think if we've got two guys in the final [sprint], especially with the speed of Michael and Simon, I think it's a very lethal combination."
Hayman's one goal will be the gruelling cobblestones of the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic and the rest of the time he'll be riding to help the team.
His vast experience will be invaluable for Orica in his role as team captain. He started his career with Rabobank in 2000 and it took until last year to make his Tour debut.
Unfortunately, he was forced to retire and he thought his dream of finishing the famous race had gone, but White has opened the door for a return next year.
"He's one of 13 or 14 guys that have put their hand up for the Tour de France next year," he said. "The first 10 days of the Tour de France is where we will really attack and I've just got to weigh up which riders suit our overall plan better."
