Davis back to winning ways

After standing on the bottom step of the all-Australian podium at the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg on September 7, Quick Step's new recruit Allan Davis has gone two places better and taken a win in stage two of the Tour of Poland. His victory and moves him into second overall behind Liquigas's Murilo Fischer.

"It was fantastic to win for the first time wearing this jersey," Davis said. "The organization of this team in the stage finals is amazing.

"The final was three laps around a circuit. The team did a great job and in the last kilometre Steven De Jongh, as always, guided me perfectly towards the finish line."

It's the Bundaberg native's first win since taking out stage three of this year's Tour Down Under in January and signals the return of Alby to the spotlight after a torrid two years following his departure from the old Team Astana in the wake of the Operación Puerto affair.

During that time the 28-year-old moved to several teams including Discovery Channel, local squad NSWIS-FRF and Belgian Continental outfit Jartazi. With results such as these it appears as though Davis' wandering may be over and Patrick Lefevre's nest is the place to be.

After signalling his intent to chase Classics wins, Davis' move was particularly pertinent given the recent announcement of Paolo Bettini's departure from the Belgian team in 2009. Keen to impress at the team which hosted him as a stagiare in its previous incarnation as Mapei-Quickstep in 2001 (while countrymen Michael Rogers and Scott McGrory were also riding for the outfit), Davis has put himself in contention to be a leading squad rider next season.