Adelaide Cancer Council Classic marks first race as UCI ProTeam
Aiming for high placings on stages in what is its first-ever races as a UCI ProTeam, the BMC Racing Team is counting down the days until the start of the Santos Tour Down Under.
Seven riders have been selected for the race, namely the 2009 world road race champion Alessandro Ballan (pictured), the sprinters Alexander Kristoff and John Murphy plus Martin Kohler, Amaël Moinard, Tim Roe and Simon Zahner.
Kristoff made some waves recently when he said that he felt he could beat Mark Cavendish, the world’s quickest sprinter. “If it all works out, I can beat him,” the Norwegian told Procycling.no. “Otherwise, I should find something else to do.”
While he’s yet to prove he’s quicker than the Manx rider, stating such ambition shows the rider’s hunger and confidence.
BMC Racing Team assistant directeur sportif Mike Sayers doesn’t envisage an upset in Australia, as he hasn’t said that the team is aiming specifically for a stage win. He realises it’s early in the season and that it may take some time for the riders to sharpen. Even so, the team will head into the World Tour race with specific goals.
“Our main focus will be to come out of this race with some ProTeam points,” he said. “We have Kristoff and Murphy for the sprints, so we’ll primarily be riding for those guys the first couple of days. If things open up after a bit, we can let guys like Simon Zahner, Amaël Moinard, Alessandro Ballan and Kohler chase the breakaways. Tim is also very motivated and finished 10th in his national road race last weekend. So if we come out of the race with a couple top five finishes in the stages, that would be perfect.”
Last year, Cadel Evans headed the team in what was his first major event as world road race champion. He was a fine sixth overall and took the most aggressive rider jersey after stage 5. Evans is not competing in the race this time round as he is following a different racing programme in order to prepare as best as possible for the Tour de France.
He was targeting the Giro d’Italia last year and so wanted to get into good racing shape early on.
The BMC Racing Team septet will get its season underway in the Adelaide Cancer Council Classic on Sunday. The Santos Tour Down Under officially begins on Tuesday.
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Santos Tour Down Under Roster (Jan. 16-23):
Alessandro Ballan (Italy)
Martin Kohler (Switzerland)
Alexander Kristoff (Norway)
John Murphy (USA)
Amaël Moinard (France)
Tim Roe (Australia)
Simon Zahner (Switzerland)
Sport Director:
Michael Sayers (USA)