Experienced New Zealand cyclist Greg Henderson rode smart to upstage the GreenEDGE debut at race one of the Bay Classic Criterium Series in Victoria.
Henderson beat Australians Chris Sutton and Allan Davis in a photo finish at the end of an absorbing twilight race on the Geelong foreshore.
Davis, riding for the Mitchelton Wines team, was the best-ranked GreenEDGE finisher.
Top GreenEDGE rider Matt Goss probably lost his chance of defending the series title when he was in a large group pulled off the course late in the race.
GreenEDGE are making their much-anticipated debut this year as Australian cycling's first WorldTour team.
They have two five-man teams in this series, GreenEDGE and Mitchelton, but on Sunday night their weight of numbers was not enough.
Henderson (Degani), Sutton (Urban Hotels) and Davis were in a group of 15 that broke clear of the peloton on the tight Eastern Beach circuit.
The lead group almost caught the main bunch and race judges took the controversial decision to pull the peloton off the course just over 45 minutes into the one-hour criterium.
Goss and GreenEDGE team-mate Robbie McEwen were among them.
Mitchelton Wines rider Patrick Lane staged a daring break with nine laps left and he was not caught until the final lap.
Henderson, Sutton and Davis then sprinted for the win.
Lane is the only member of the Mitchelton team who is not on the GreenEDGE roster.
He is a 20-year-old member of the Jayco-AIS development team.
Henderson, married to retired Australian track cycling star Katie Mactier, is a regular at the Bay Series and as usual he rode a smart race.
He will be a key leadout man this year for German sprint ace Andre Greipel at Lotto Belisol.
"I was just trying to work out for the first half of the race who was doing what and who GreenEDGE were going to use as their key riders and who they were going to use as their leadout and chase men," Henderson said.
"It seemed like they were pretty happy with anyone who was up (in) the break.
"They were pretty desperate to win today and when you have so many riders in a group like that, it can almost work against you.
"I was just working off the other guys." GreenEDGE team director Matt White was satisfied with the team's first effort.
"It's always a heart-starter on this circuit ... it is the world's smallest criterium circuit and usually someone laps the field," White said.
"The guys are here to have a hitout - we'd like to win something during the week, but it's a good little hitout."
Earlier on Sunday evening, top Australian Chloe Hosking rode superbly to win the women's race and GreenEDGE-AIS rider Melissa Hoskins was second.
Hosking was in a seven-rider group that established a lead of seven seconds until a crash with five laps left neutralised the race.
Trudy Van Der Straaten, from the Pitcher Partners team, was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone.
When the race resumed, Hosking broke clear with less than three laps to go and won on her own, ahead of Hoskins and defending series champion Rochelle Gilmore (Bike Exchange).
"I love racing like that, I don't like really like sitting in and then sprinting," Hosking said after her first Bay Classic win.
