Tour Down Under
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
Team UniSA-Australia Supporters Club
 Left to right - Isrido Nozal (Liberty Seguros), Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis) and Gilberto Simoni (Lampre Caffita) |
17 January 2005
by
Michele Nardelli
In a pre-race press conference today featuring Adelaide’s Stuart O’Grady, (Cofidis), Italian champion Gilberto Simoni (Lampre Caffita) and Spanish rider Isidro Nozal (Liberty Seguros), O’Grady named Team UniSA rider Gene Bates as a real contender in the Tour Down Under.
Bates placed 9th in the 182 km Australian Open Elite Men’s Road race on January 15, two places behind O’Grady but is known as a determined rider with a strong ambition to perform.
UniSA team mate Matthew Rex placed 5th in the Under 23 rankings for the race.
Bates spent 2004 with Saeco and joins Zalph this year and says he is keen for Team UniSA to perform well this year.
“We won last year – but there is always room for improvement,” Bates said.
“There are lots of stage jerseys up for grabs and I am hoping we take a fair share of them.”
