Sports director Kim Andersen regards the chances of a good result in Team Saxo Bank’s season debut in the ProTour race Tour Down Under as very promising.
”I’d say we have every reason to be optimistic regarding our chances in Australia. The riders we’ve chosen for the line-up have all been training specifically for this race and several of them are at a level, where they could easily be contenders for the victory,” says Kim Andersen, who will be traveling to Adelaide on January 13th along with most of the riders on the team.
”Of course Stuart O’Grady and Matt Goss have an obvious advantage because they’ve been able to train down here, but I know that Jens Voigt has worked really hard as well and that means anything can happen really,” adds Kim Andersen referring to the experienced German’s aggressive style which has resulted in many a victory.
”This particular race often gets decided via bonus seconds or because a break is allowed off on one of the tougher stages. Regardless the recipe is the same for us: We need to be where the action is!” concludes Kim Andersen.
The race itself begins on January 20th with a 140-kilometer stage from Norwood to Mawson Lakes, but the action starts a day earlier in the shape of a short street race in Adelaide.
The line-up for Tour Down Under 2009 is: Anders Lund, Frank Høj, Jens Voigt, Kasper Klostergaard, Matt Goss, Nicki Sørensen and Stuart O’Grady.