Accepting that his excess kilos were a big reason why he didn’t perform as well as he should have in early part of the 2010 season, Allan Davis has vowed to be in better shape for next years Tour Down Under.
He took three stages plus the overall honours in 2009 and wants to once again top the podium in the ProTour event. It has grown since he wore the final leader’s jersey and winning it once again would be a bigger achievement than the first time round.
Davis had a strong second half to the season, netting the points classification in the Tour of Poland, placing third in the world road race championships in Geelong and winning the Commonwealth Games road race. He then capped things off with a victory in the Noosa Grand Prix.
Now, motivation on a high and in good condition heading into the off-season, he wants to keep the momentum going and to ensure that he hits the ground running in 2011.
The 30 year old got some criticism for not being in good condition at the start of 2010.
"I think a lot of that was right - I was a little bit overweight, I did take it a bit too easy," he conceded, speaking to AAP. "When you do have a good break those things do creep up on you.
“Physically I do have to keep an eye on that. This year I'm looking to start my season better.”
He said that his next big goal was to once again win the Tour Down Under, even if it will be hard to beat defending champion André Griepel. Further ahead, he wants to develop into a more complete rider; Davis has always had a better ability than most sprinters on lumpy courses, and he’s looking to capitalise on that.
"People who know me know there are other things I can do rather than just sprinting and I'm starting to do it now,” he said.
"In the Tour of Spain, I finished about five minutes behind mountain climbers when the mountain stages finished and that's giving me a lot of confidence.”
So too his world championship performance: fellow fast-men Mark Cavendish and Tyler Farrar were dropped on the tough circuit, but Davis was still there at the end, fighting it out for the win with Thor Hushovd (Norway), Matti Breshel (Denmark) and other strong riders. That again backs up the notion that when he is in shape, he is a big danger in races.
Providing he keeps an eye on his diet, he should be one of the top challengers in just over two month’s time in the Tour Down Under.