The 30-year-old from Campbell Town continued his impressive career record in prologues last year, claiming victory in the Sun Tour’s opener at Southbank by one second over sprinters Caleb Ewan and Drapac teammate Brenton Jones, and will defend his win on Wednesday evening.

A former stage winner at the Tour Down Under and tours of Japan, Kumano and Iran, Clarke said the five-day Sun Tour held special significance for his Melbourne-based Pro Continental team.

‘‘I am really looking forward to this year’s tour,’’ he said.

‘‘The event always draws in a quality field and offers us riders a challenging course.’’

Clarke will be joined by Kiwi strongman Tom Scully, Adam Phelan (ACT) and  a strong trio of general classification contenders in former Australian champion Travis Meyer (WA), 2015 Tour of Utah stage winner Lachlan Norris (Vic) and Hobart climbing specialist Nathan Earle.

‘‘We have a strong team for the race and will look to be active in each stage,’’ said Clarke. ‘‘Personally, I am looking for a top performance throughout the race and can hopefully pick up a stage win along the way.’’

Drapac has already tasted success in 2016, with a stage victory at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina. Directeur Sportif Tom Southam said the team wouldn’t be holding back at the Sun Tour with its ‘‘strong and experienced’’ squad.

‘‘Our goals as a team are to put a rider on the podium and race for stage wins,’’ he said.

‘‘The team found early success in the first stages and has a history of amazing performances in the unique short prologue, and it’s always nice to start on a high. We have last year’s prologue winner in Clarke, who will be motivated for it once again.’’