Backed by a solid Astana team, 2009 race winner Allan Davis has been confirmed as taking part in the Santos Tour Down Under next month, and will be on a confidence high after a strong second half of the season.
The 30 year old took the points classification in the Tour of Poland, then placed third in the world road race championships in Geelong and won the Commonwealth Games road race. He also took victory in the Noosa Grand Prix.
Davis dominated the race two years ago, winning three stages plus the overall classification, but was short on condition last year. He recently admitted that he was overweight in the race, having taken things too easy during the 2009-2010 winter months. As a result he couldn’t prevent Andre Greipel from taking his second overall victory in the ProTour event. In fact, while Davis picked up sixth place on the second and final stages, he finished back in a distant 87th overall.
This time round, he intends things to be different. He’s coming off the season in strong form, and stated last month that he intends to be going well from January onwards. His ability to both sprint and climb well means that he may well be Australia’s best chance of taking the overall win; so too the fact that he knows the race so well, riding every since it began, winning six stages in all and netting second in 2005 and 2008.
Conscious of this, race director Mike Turtur is very pleased that he will be there. “We are thrilled that Alby is returning to Adelaide to compete in the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under with his team Astana,” he stated. “Alby is a great sprinter and has had a stellar season in 2010. The 2011 Santos Tour Down Under will give him a great opportunity to prove himself against the world’s best at the start of the season.”
He will be supported by compatriot Simon Clarke, and also by the strong Ukrainian rider Andriy Grivko, the Kazahstan competitors Valentin Iglinskiy, Maxim Gourov and Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy, as well as the Estonian Tanel Kangert.
Turtur and his crew have put together a strong lineup, and more big names will be confirmed in the weeks ahead. “His participation is an added boost to the quality of the race,” he said. “With so many of the world’s best sprinters including Mark Cavendish, Tyler Farrar and André Greipel lining up to race here in 2011, it will be a gruelling competition ahead.”
The Santos Tour Down Under will run from January 16th – 23rd.
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Team Astana for race:
Allan Davis (Australia)
Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy (Kazakhstan)
Simon Clarke (Australia)
Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)
Maxim Gourov (Kazakhstan)
Tanel Kangert (Estonia)
Valentin Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan)
Team Manager: Guido Bontempi (Italy)