Robbie McEwen is hopeful that in next years Tour de France he will be lining up for the first time representing an Australian cycling team.

Having recently run out of contract at RadioShack, McEwen was a free agent to find a new team, and was instantly sold on the idea that Australia could have a cycling team that competed at the very highest level. Having helped form GreenEDGE with one of his former managers, now it is an anxious wait to see whether they have qualified for the the required UCI permit that will allow them to race in the Tour.

“We were pretty sure we would be in the top 15 on sporting value because of the way the team has been put together, the attention to detail, how meticulous it was,” McEwen said as he prepared for one of his last races of 2011, Saturday’s Noosa Grand Prix.

” I think it will be a formality that the team will now get a licence.”