Three days after he won the Australian time trial title with a strong display, Luke Durbridge has been named as a replacement for Jack Bobridge in the Santos Tour Down Under.
The twenty year old Australian will line out as part of the GreenEdge team in the race, taking the place of the injured 2011 national road race champion.
“Luke will be a great addition to our roster after Jack's unfortunate exit,” said the team’s directeur sportif Matt White. “He's clearly on form and other than winning the national time trial title, he showed in the road race on Sunday that he is very strong right now.”
Bobridge had been motivated to perform strongly in the WorldTour event but crashed hard in the opening kilometre of the time trial championships. He injured his wrist and while x-rays appear to rule out a fracture, the team and the rider himself wish to play things safe.
White is convinced that Durbridge will be a good replacement. “He's up for the task and extremely motivated to debut with us for the Tour Down Under. I'm really happy with our final line-up and the guys can't wait to get out there and compete.”
The team will also include last year’s winner, Cameron Meyer, as well as Matt Goss, Leigh Howard, Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwen and the new national road race champion, Simon Gerrans.
The squad will line out in the Down Under Classic on Sunday, then in the Tour Down Under itself from Tuesday.