The Jonker report - Look for Jack – he’s SA’s next big wheel
January 24
2009
Today was a story book – beautiful weather, hordes of happy people lining the roads, the Southern Vales looking a picture and yes, the story was good too.
For all-round nice guy Allan Davis it was another well deserved win. His capacity to sprint and take on the hills has held him in good stead.
Through all the career adversity he has faced in the past few years, Davis has maintained his sense of self and has always shown a down home politeness and generosity of spirit that marks him as a great athlete and a good bloke. We saw that last year when he rode for Team UniSA and missed out on winning the tour by just seconds.
You can’t begrudge Davis this success even if you do support another team and true to form, he is always mindful to share his personal victories with his team and his supporters by thanking them for their dedication on and off the road.
For Team-UniSA Australia the Snapper Point to Willunga leg of the tour has been a showcase for two rising stars – Travis Meyer and SA’s own Jack Bobridge.
And what a spark Bobridge has. He has all the signs of being the next big thing in sport for this state.
Despite being in the thick of Thursday’s crash he rode aggressively today with no sign of the impact from his bumps and bruises taking an attacking stance virtually right from the crack of the starter’s pistol. He led out the first breakaway and spent more than two thirds of the race in the lead group.
Together both young riders worked well to secure points in both sprints with Meyer taking the first spot each time and Bobridge snatching third. Bobridge then took out King of the Mountain.
Appropriately the judges awarded Bobridge today’s most aggressive rider jersey and I dare say it will be the first of many honours on the professional circuit for this rising star.
At the time of writing the final results had not been posted but I believe together their efforts are likely to raise Matthew Wilson to 6th in the General Classifications which will be a great showing for the young Team UniSA- Australia especially after losing Cooke in this week’s crash.
With only the city circuit to go it will be almost impossible to knock Davis out of his 16-second lead of the tour so tomorrow promises a story book ending for this 11 time contestant in the Tour Down Under – and we will be cheering for him along with our own valiant team.
Patrick Jonker