Showing that athletic class can sometimes transfer well across disciplines, former Olympic rower Cameron Wurf will make his Santos Tour Down Under debut in next months’ race.
The 27 year old will be the sole Australian rider on the Liquigas-Cannondale team for the race, joining up with the Italians Davide Cimaoli, Simone Ponzi, Alan Marangoni, Fabio Sabatini and Elia Viviani, as well as the Slovenain rider Kristjan Koren.
Wurf competed in the Athens Olympics, rowing in the lightweight double sculls, and then took up cycling when a wrist injury interfered with his ability to do his main sport. He showed how quickly he settled in when he placed a fine fourth in the national time trial championships in 2007, the same year he got a contract with the Priority Health/Bissell cycling team.
Wurf then went on to race with Cinelli OPD and Volksbank Corratec in 2008, while in 2009 he joined the Fuji Servetto team. That offered a bigger race programme but he came down with glandular fever and missed the final four months of the season.
He was able to get a deal with the Androni Giocattoli – Serramenti PVC team for 2010, making a solid-enough Grand Tour debut when he rode for the team leader Michele Scarponi in the race and then finished up 77th.
His persistence has paid off and he secured a contract with the Liquigas-Cannondale team for 2011. The Tasmanian will get to ride the Santos Tour Down Under with the team, and is likely to attract a lot of crowd attention due to his nationality and also his unusual background.
“It’s great to see another new face debuting at the race. Wurf’s remarkable transition from professional rowing to professional cycling only serves to underscore his immense sporting talent,” said race organiser Mike Turtur.
“Wurf has a bright future ahead of him in professional cycling, and we expect him to put in a strong performance at the race next year.”
Koren and Sabantini rode the race earlier season, and so they will know what to expect from the race. The latter was ninth on stage five to Willunga.
The Liquigas team joins others which have been previously announced, including the Garmin-Cervélo team of Tyler Farrar, the HTC-Highroad squad of Mark Cavendish, Andre Greipel’s Omega Pharma-Lotto, Francesco Chicchi and Andre Greipel’s Quick Step lineup and Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack squad. The race runs from January 16-23.
----
Liquigas-Cannondale for 2011 Santos Tour Down Under:
Cameron Wurf (Australia)
Kristjan Koren (Slovenia)
Davide Cimolai (Italy)
Simone Ponzi (Italy)
Alan Marangoni (Italy)
Fabio Sabatini (Italy)
Elia Viviani (Italy)
Manager : Dario Mariuzzo (Italy)