Chris Sutton insists he will be ready to pounce if he is called upon to lead Team Sky at the Tour Down Under.

The 25-year-old is initially planning to take on a supporting role for Greg Henderson during the team's first outing, but is in great form himself having won the recent Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in Melbourne.

The relatively flat stages of the tour will favour CJ's explosive sprinting skills, but he is happy to give his all in the name of team success.

He said: "I think we're just going to play it by ear and see.

"Hendy's going great so I'm here for him, no questions asked. I'm the younger guy so hopefully I can learn a lot from the older guys like him and Mathew Hayman.

"But one of the things with this team is, if someone is having a bad day, or if Greg doesn't feel up for the sprint, he'll just say 'look I'm not feeling that good', and things will switch.

"If people are not feeling good they will say so. We've all learnt it's better to be honest than to hold back and hope that things will turn out well.

"If that happens you're lying to yourself and you're lying to your team, and everyone here is going to give 110% for each other."

Teamwork

Russell Downing, Chris Froome, Ben Swift and Davide Viganò complete a formidable seven-man squad, and although Sutton is gunning for glory, he doesn't want to get caught up in all the hype surrounding the new outfit.

"There's no pressure on us as far as we're concerned," he added.

"All seven of us are level-headed and we're just doing the training we've been given.

"If we win a stage we're going to be over the moon but people have to remember though that this is our first race, so it's all about learning.

"None of us have really ridden together, we've raced against each other, sure, but we have to learn to race as a unit."

The European quartet only landed in Australia last week but Sutton has been amazed by how quickly they have adapted and delighted at the rapport that's already built up inside the team.

"So far it's been incredible. I think we are ahead of where we need to be at the moment in that respect," he said.

"We are gelling together so well, everybody is in great spirits. We're sitting there having jokes all the time and we're just like a big happy family."