The Tour Down Under has once again brought together some of the fastest finishers in the World Tour peloton, but the first sprint of the season always brings surprises.

The Norwegian was the under-23 road race world champion in 2016, but struggled to turn heads at a young age during his two seasons with Team Sky and Team Ineos. Now 23, he is eager to move to EF Pro Cycling for 2020, starting with the Tour Down Under, and find his way through the sprints to be first on the line.

"It's a new start for me, but I feel good and I'm really looking forward to racing with my new team here at the Tour Down Under. I think they are a pretty good team in the sprints. I think I'm in good shape," Halvorsen told Cycling News before the EF Pro Cycling riders head out on Friday for a 140km ride in the Adelaide Hills.

This year's Tour Down Under includes Thursday's third stage, a hilly finish to Paracombe, which will be decided on Sunday, January 26, on stage six, Willunga Hill. EF Pro Cycling considers him an Oscar Freire-type sprinter, with three EF Pro Cycling sees him as an Oscar Freire-type sprinter and hopes he will follow in the footsteps of the Spaniard, who won three world titles and three Milano-Sanremo titles.

"Christopher is a great talent and it's up to us to help him develop that talent," team manager Jonathan Vaughters said when announcing Halvorsen's arrival to EF Pro Cycling.

"As an organization, we are just one monument short of the trophy mantle. Halvorsen is just the ticket to put that last one on the mantelpiece."

Halvorsen hopes that EF Pro Cycling will give him the opportunity to compete in sprints and the support and lead-out to win or lose.

"The main reason I moved from Team Ineos to EF Pro Cycling was to focus more on sprinting," Halvorsen explains.

"At Team Ineos I had some opportunities, but there were a lot of GC riders and logically the whole team was being pulled in one direction. Here at EF Pro Cycling, we are more focused on sprinting and have more opportunities." Even in training, the team is focused on sprinting.

Halvorsen is joined by Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal), debutant Elia Viviani from Cofidis, Dečuninck-Quick Step replacement Sam Bennett, Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling), Yasper Filipsen (UAE Team Emirates), and Andre Greipel, who has a record of two overall wins and 18 stage wins, will sprint with him.

Halvorsen has a quiet respect for his elders, but also the innate hunger needed to win sprint races; in 2018, when he made his debut for Team Sky in a criterium before the Tour Down Under, he refused to brake. He broke his wrist in a subsequent crash, but his rivals looked up to him.

"I've been on the Tour Down Under before, so I think I know what I have to do. I think I've stepped it up this winter and I want to be up there in the sprints. I know it will be a hard race before the sprints and that will help me."

We'll remember his name next week.