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Team UniSA-Australia 2006

Team UniSA-Australia 2006It’s official, Team UniSA-Australia will have some real class in the saddle this year. The team's name has changed from Team UniSA to Team UniSA-Australia because the status the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under has been elevated to the highest level outside Europe to Hors Classe 2 and we now sponsor the official Australian team.

We welcome back some familiar faces and we have some 'newcomers' with loads of experience who should prove formidable. The team manager this year is Dave Sanders.

Team UniSA-Australia 2006 includes:

 

Gene Bates

Gene BatesGene Bates has been with Team UniSA since day one when he made his debut as a fresh faced 17-year-old. Since then his career has gone from strength to strength with a Junior World title (1999) and Australian Under 23s title (2002) under his belt. He’s been no slouch on the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under either, finishing in the top ten in 2004 and taking out the King of the Mountain title last year. 2006 is bound to be another big year for Gene having made the big step up to the professional ranks in Europe. Expect to see him out in front challenging for stage wins on this year’s Tour.
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Paul Crake

Paul Crake Paul Crake started out as a mountain runner, a sport in which he had numerous successes including winning the New York Empire State Building Stair Climb five times in a row. He cites the switch to cycling as a need to set new challenges and threw himself in the deep end by heading straight to Europe and picking up a ride in Belgium. Strong results in the Tour of Austria and a bronze medal at the Australian Open Road Championships have shown that his climbing ability has translated from two feet to two wheels.
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Ben Day

Ben DayBen Day cites seeing the Tour de France on television as the inspiration to take up cycling in 1994. He turned professional in 2002 and has been racing in Europe ever since. Day is coming off a string of strong performances in 2005, finishing 13th in the time trials at the World Championships, placing sixth in the Tour of Germany and fifth in the Tour of Britain. The time trial specialist also has good pedigree in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under with a stage win in 2004. Combined with his strong ability as a climber, Day will be gunning for stage wins and a strong overall classification.
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Matthew Hayman

Matthew HaymanGrowing up in Canberra, Mathew Hayman has progressively honed his cycling game after moving to the Netherlands in 1997 when he signed for the Radobank under 23 team. After some great results as an amateur he was promoted to the Radobank professional team, winning first time out on the Tour of Mallorca in 2001. But it has not been all smooth riding for the 27-year-old, having taken a number of nasty falls over the years including a broken collarbone within metres of the finish on the final stage of the 2005 Sachsen-Tour International in Germany – an event he still managed to win! Having expressed a strong desire to race back home in Australia over the last couple of years, Hayman finally gets his chance in 2006. His powerful build will lend itself more towards the longer stages so watch out for him leaving the peloton in his wake.
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Chris Jongewaard

Chris Jongewaard Chris Jongewaard has proven his versatility on and off road in the last 12 months. On a mountain bike he is the current Oceania and Australian Cross Country champion while on a road bike he netted a third place stage finish on the 2005 Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Competing in the Bay Criterium and National Championships in the lead up to the Tour will have him competition sharp so expect him to be giving the top ten a shake.
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Robert McLachlan

Robert McLachlanRobert McLachlan’s cycling career is divided into two distinct parts. He started out as a junior at the age of 16 and rode competitively until he was 22 including representing Australia at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Suffering from burn out and yearning to take a break, he spent the next ten years pursuing other interests before returning to competitive cycling winning a handful of stages on the 2004 Sun Tour and back-to-back second places in the 2004 and 2005 Australian Open Road Championships. Coming from a top ten finish in last year’s Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under, McLachlan will be keen to back it up with another strong ride in 2006.
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Sean Sullivan

Sean SullivanWhile Sean Sullivan has had strong results both locally and overseas in the past 12 months, he is currently hunting for a new professional contract, so it makes it even more important for him to fire up in the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under with a strong ride. Sullivan held the leader’s jersey for three days on the Sun Tour in 2005 and has had other strong results on the Asian circuit. He is an opportunist on the bike, so if there’s any chance of a rider sneaking away from the pack and making a break, especially in the later stages of the Tour, expect it to be Sullivan.
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Russell van Hout

Russell van Hout A strong all-round rider, Russell van Hout has proven his ability on the Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under. He has raced in all five previous Tours with Team UniSA and came close to taking out the King of the Mountain standings in 2001 and 2002 with a pair of seconds. Extensive experience overseas has also seen him compete in two Giro d’Italia’s. The hunger for a stage win or overall jersey in 2006 has seen van Hout racking up a heap of time on the bike in the lead up to the Tour so you can expect him to be at the competitive end of the field.
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