The 10-rider squad - the first Australian professional outfit of its kind - is headlined by a German world champion, Judith Arndt.
Unlike its male GreenEDGE equivalent, which this week won a top division racing licence that grants a start in the Tour de France, the team is light on established Australian female talent. Yet while GreenEDGE's masculine arm will begin as a minnow on the elite European circuit, the female unit believes it can instantly set new standards in the sport's less-supported domain.
Australia's most established female road cyclists - the likes of Rochelle Gilmore, Chloe Hosking and Bridie O'Donnell - do not feature on the foundation roster.
Joining her is Shara Gillow, Melissa Hoskins and Amanda Spratt, who all recorded breakout results in Europe this year, Rowena Fry, who comes from mountain bike, and sprinter Jessie MacLean.
The impressive international recruits include Arndt, the reigning time trial world champion and 2004 road world champion who has left HTC-Highroad, New Zealander Linda Villumsen, Loes Gunnewijk from the Netherlands and another German, Claudia Hausler.
Villumsen was the silver medallist in the time trial at this year's world road championship, while Hausler is a former winner of the Giro Donne, the female version of the Giro d'Italia.
Their combined successes mean GreenEDGE's women are ranked third in the world in teams classification before they have started an event.
''We consider this team an authentic Australian venture,'' GreenEDGE general manager Shayne Bannan said yesterday.
''We have contracted some of the top international riders to ensure the team has sufficient points to guarantee starts in the world's major events.
''We will look to our international riders to provide the leadership and experience necessary to create a culture of success. It's our hope this culture will flow down through the domestic women's development programs.''
The team is a joint venture of GreenEDGE, which is owned and underwritten for three years by successful Australian businessman Gerry Ryan, the Australian Institute of Sport and Cycling Australia. It will race as GreenEDGE-AIS and the management will be shared by high performance program staff from the three interested parties.
