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Tour Down Under: Micheal Storer aiming to take young rider jersey on Willunga Hill

By Zeb Woodpower

published 21 January 2017

Second youngest rider in the race showing no signs of intimidation on WorldTour debut

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Michael Storer (Australia) in the bronze medal(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

Michael Storer (Australia) at the 2015 Worlds(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

Michael Storer was the best young rider at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in 2016(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Michael Storer (Australia)(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)

Robert Stannard, Callum Scotson (BMC Development Team), and Michael Storer on the podium(Image credit: Cycling Australia)

Ahead of the Tour Down Under, UniSA-Australia director sportif Brad McGee stressed it wouldn't be 'lambs to the slaughter' for his riders, with his eye on the various classifications.

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Midway through the race, McGee's tactics have seen his wildcard squad take the lead in the team classification ahead of the 18 WorldTour teams, with two riders sitting top 20 in the fight for the general classification.

One of those riders is Michael Storer on his WorldTour debut at the tender age of 19. Storer is also in contention for the young rider classification following an impressive eighth-place finish on stage 2 to Paracombe.

"I really surprised myself. I didn't think I would be able to keep up with the best guys. Especially starting the climb a bit further back so I was really happy with that," Storer explained to Cyclingnews and The Advertiser.

"It shows that we are all doing quite well and we will try and put in another good performance at Willunga and the next two days as well to keep the team classification," Storer said of UniSA-Australia's bid for the team classification.

A climber who can pull out a decent time trial, Storer explained that the 1.6km climb wasn't ideally suited to his characteristics. Saturday's stage finish to the top of the three-kilometre Willunga Hill should allow Storer to fully express his capabilities, and that is precisely what he is planning.

"I might try to get into position to try for the bonus sprints, but I don't have much of a sprint on me so it is possibly better to save my energy for Willunga but making sure there is no time gaps at the finish," said Storer.