Davis happy to be back in the action

By Bjorn Haake

Australian Allan Davis was unable to secure a contract after the Discovery Channel folded, having to race in Australia this winter. Finally, in March he was able to get back to Europe, after Mitsubishi-Jartazi signed the rider. He was quite relieved, telling Cyclingnews that "I was quite desperate to find a new team. It's not a good a feeling to be out of a job in any aspect of life. You have to make a living for your family."

He was quite surprised with the difficulty of finding an employer. "To be honest, I don't understand why it took so long to find a new team." The Australian was all the happier to be able to line up at the start of the recent Rund um den Henninger Turm on a nice, sunny day. "It turned out OK. The form is coming [along]."

While Davis didn't have a team until the spring, he could keep in shape. "It was summer over there while it was winter here and it was nice to be back home in Australia. It's a bonus having good weather!" He also enjoyed spending Christmas at home, in an atmosphere he is used to. Having the great weather allowed him to get the kilometres in that usually transfer to a good season start. "It always worked well for me – I always started the season well."

This year was different, but now he is looking forward to making an impression. And while so far in the races for his new team, he didn't really "get a chance for a sprint," he is eager to deliver when the circumstances are right. Davis is comfortable with the situation for now. With Guennadi Mikhailov "we have a rider who has been around; he has a lot of experience and he has looked after some sprinters over the years."

Davis is definitely eager to get some results for the team. "For now, I just worry about this year ... I will weigh my options later in the year for sure," he made clear that getting back to a ProTour team, with the ability of riding the bigger races again, would be a nice option.

But with the concern for the immediate tasks at hand, he rolled towards the finish line to check out the last 500 metres. "I am just about to have a look. It looks like a good finish for me [the last 500m were slightly uphill - ed.]. But the problem is, there are 179 kilometres before that," he laughed.

Unfortunately for Davis, those 179 kilometres through the hilly Taunus area proved to be too hard for many, with only 55 riders seeing the finishing line.