By Greg Johnson in Adelaide, Australia
Former Discovery Channel rider Allan Davis is looking to claim some sprint stage victories during this year's Tour Down Under, which commences in South Australia this morning. The Queenslander is one of several strong riders in the UniSA-Australian National Team that will contest this year's 10th Anniversary race.
Despite his form in the opening stages of 2008, Davis is yet to find a new home for the season ahead after the Discovery Channel ProTour team for which he rode disbanded at the end of last season. Despite the lack of contract for 2008, Davis is determined to put in a strong showing at this year's Tour Down Under - where he will rider as the only competitor to race all 10 editions of the event.
"Yeah it will be great to start in the right direction, coming off the Bay Series with a win there was a good start as well and hopefully I can carry that on this week," he said. "We've also got a couple of guys for the overall, we have a couple of cards to play, so hopefully we can come away with a good result."
Davis praised the Adelaide event's efforts over the past decade, saying that its consistent professionalism over the past nine editions is what led to the event becoming the first non-European ProTour round in 2008.
"It's pretty hard to pinpoint something that's improved because when it started it was so good," he said. "To me, it's a real credit to Mike and the team that it's been consistent for 10 years. The level it started at and the level it's at now hasn't changed that much - maybe now with the ProTour - it was so good from the start it's just maintained that consistency through 10 years."
