Tour Down Under
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
New team jerseys, some fresh faces and some perennial favourites, but
the same determination to burn up the track. Team UniSA will continue to
offer home crowds something to cheer about in this season’s Jacobs Creek
Tour Down Under to be held from January 20 to 25.
Team UniSA has taken on the mantle of the ‘South Australian team’ garnering support from across the state for its up-and-coming riders.
Since the University came on board as a sponsor of the team in 2001, cycling enthusiasts have seen Gene Bates emerge from his status as a promising 17-year old junior to one of Australia’s leading riders in the under 23 years rankings.
According to team manager Michele Primaro, Bates is a name to watch in Australian cycling and hopes are high that he will soon join one of the elite European teams.
At the other end of the spectrum, local hero Patrick Jonker will make
the 2004 tour his cycling finale.
Primaro says Jonker is looking to make this last tour his best.
“Patrick has been one of Australia’s premier riders for almost 10 years, finishing 11th in this year’s Tour de France,” he said. “At 34 he is looking to move on to new things but like any athlete who has spent years devoted to his sport, he wants to go out on a high note. We have big expectations of him for the Tour Down Under – it will be so special for him in so many ways, that it will provide added incentive to take it up a notch.”
Primaro says Brett Aitken will also be looking for a peak performance in the lead up to the 2004 Olympic Games.
Other riders to watch will be Luke Roberts, another SA local who has consistently performed well in the Tour Down Under and who ran second by a hair’s breadth in the Sun Herald Tour held in Victoria in October 2003.
So if talent, determination and purpose have any influence on the race outcomes, Team UniSA may well be one of the most dynamic to watch in the 2004 Jacobs Creek Tour Down Under. Primaro says they are hoping the team will gather huge support this year from local cycling fans.
