Has Orica GreenEDGE got a problem with its team structure? In its second year as a World Tour team, management has deliberately not signed a general classification rider for the Grand Tours.
This means they will, once again, look to Simon Gerrans and Matthew Goss for the bulk of their race wins in 2013.
It’ll be exciting to see what opportunities the frighteningly talented Luke Durbridge gets to inflict pain on the peloton, but at 21, he won’t be under any pressure from his team.
So it’s mostly down to the two G’s.
Gerrans already has one win on his palmares for the year, but Goss is yet to taste victory. In fact, he hasn’t won since stage three of last year’s Giro d’Italia.
2012 was a solid one for Goss with 21 top 10 finishes, but only two of those were wins.
Were his ‘train’ running like a well-oiled machine we’d be talking a different story, but right now the win column is looking a little bare and 2013 has not really started off as well as many were hoping.
At the Tour Down Under, the Orica GreenEDGE train was not alone in being powerless against the Lotto-Belisol juggernaut. Goss did have two second places, but in the 51km Classic he finished well behind Andre Greipel.
Then on stage three, Goss rode well to challenge eventual race winner Tom Jelte Slagter on the uphill run to the line. But it was a stage when sprinters weren’t expected to figure.
Goss is now in Oman, but in the only stage for sprinters thus far, stage one, he was unable to make an impact, finishing 10 seconds behind the leading bunch.
Cannondale’s ‘Superman’ Peter Sagan put more than five and a half minutes into Goss and the other sprinters in the short but steep climbs at the end of stage two.
And a lumpy final 30kms in stage three saw Goss again finish well off the pace.
Goss and his team may not be saying anything publicly but the pressure to deliver a win before the end of Oman must be building.
With Brett Lancaster, Daryl Impey, Sam Bewley, Jens Mouris and Baden Cooke, Goss has the engines to motor him to the front at the right time. Add Robbie McEwen on the sidelines as a mentor and there’s someone to teach Goss how to find wheels should the train break down.
But as we saw at the TDU and so far in Oman, opportunities haven’t been converted.
“There are a few little things we have to work on,” said Bewley after Goss missed out in stage one.
Enter Leigh Howard.
He could be the circuit breaker the team needs if Goss continues to struggle.
Howard has already bettered his one win from nine top ten places in 2012.
Two wins from four top ten places this season means he currently has 168 World Tour points, compared to 150 in 2012.
Goss is ‘languishing’ on 35 after his opening Tour Down Under campaign.
Howard started his season at the Geelong Bay Crits, then went to Argentina for the Tour de San Luis where he snared a third and fourth place in a race where several stages featured proper climbs.
He backed that up with two wins at the Challenge Majorca.
Of course, it’s only the second season for Orica GreenEDGE, but the decision not to sign a GC rider means that Goss has to deliver, whether the train does the business or not.
If not, a hungry and confident Leigh Howard may offer Orica GreenEDGE the edge they need.
Kate Smart
Expert
I think you make some good points, John. Goss is in desperate need of a win, for confidence, if not for anything else. Yes, he's had a lot of podiums and near misses, and I suggested last week that these are starting to morph into a monkey on his back. Being close can be a positive thing, but if it can't be converted into wins then near misses start becoming psychological barriers. Let's hope he finds some form. I do have to say, that I think Denis has a good point about ability and instinct not being the same thing.
Denis Giles
Guest
I think Goss has the ability but I'm not convinced he has the instinct for winning. I think Michael Matthews & Leigh Howard have better prospects for the future.