Irish rider Sam Bennett will debut in the new team colors for Deceuninck-Quickstep in Australia in January, the Belgian team announced Monday.

No specific team names were announced for the Tour Down Under, but Deceuninck-Quickstep has listed Bennett as one of seven riders for two events: the Race Torquay on January 30 and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road on February 2. listed among the seven riders.

Bennett, who moves from Bora-Hansgrohe to Detunic Quick Step, will benefit from a well-rounded lead-out team that includes Danish champion Michal Morkov, Iljo Keisse, and Shane Archibald, who moved with Bennett.

The team did not announce who will compete in the Tour Down Under, which kicks off at the People's Classic Criterium in Adelaide on January 19. Organizers will conduct a safety assessment to secure the course, which is located near the wildfires that have ravaged the country this month.

Race Torquay, a new UCI 1.1-ranked event, is located in a surf town on Australia's south coast far from the fires. The event, which consists of 10 laps of a 13.3 km long rolling circuit, should favor sprinters like Bennett. The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the first one-day event on the 2020 UCI World Tour, is 171.1 km long and more hilly. Dečuninck-Quick Step won this race in 2019 with Elia Viviani, who has since moved to the Cofidis team.

"I am really looking forward to these two races. Torquay is a new race but I have trained in that area in the past so it's not an unknown place. In the Great Ocean Road Race in Cadel Evans, both attackers and sprinters are likely to be in contention for the win. Detuning Quickstep in the Race Torquay and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race: Joao Almeida, Shane Arbold, Sam Bennett, Mattia Cattaneo, Dries Devenance, Iljo Keisse, Michael Morkov