Jonathan Cantwell will lead the ambitious Drapac Professional Cycling team to its WorldTour debut in next month’s Santos Tour Down Under, but the ambitious Australian outfit will bee keen to impress in all areas in its home event. Four of the seven-man, all-Australian line up join the team this year from first division ProTeams, and Drapac looks set to be one of the most aggressive teams in the race.
“Drapac Professional Cycling’s roster announced today will see another seven Australians added to the world-class line up of professional cyclists competing here in January,” said race director Mike Turtur.
“Four of the seven-man team have transferred from UCI Pro Tour teams for the 2014 season including Jonathan Cantwell from Saxo-Tinkoff and William Clarke from Argo-Shimano,” he added.
Travis Meyer and Wesley Sulzberger will be the other two ex-WorldTour riders on the team, along with current Drapac riders Bernie Sulzberger - Wesley’s elder brother - Darren Lapthorner and Thomas Palmer.
“Everyone knows Jonathan Cantwell is quick, but Drapac is taking a very balanced squad to the race,” said directeur sportif Henk Vogels. “We’ll aim to be the most attacking team at the Santos Tour Down Under and will be looking to take our opportunities where ever we can.
“Our guys won’t just be waiting to come off Andre Greipel’s wheel in a sprint finish,” Vogels added. “Expect Drapac to be mega-active where it counts.”
Drapac’s rise up to Professional Continental level sees a second division team invited to the Australian race for the first time since it joined the ProTour [now the WorldTour - ed] in 2008. The rule that restricts wildcard invitations to ProConti teams only has historically been bent to allow a representative Australian national team to ride the country’s biggest race but, with Drapac now included, there is no longer any need to do so.
“With another Australian team added to the line-up I expect the support for our home-grown cycling stars will be better than ever and I encourage all cycling fans to show their support for Drapac Professional Cycling,” Turtur said.
Drapac Professional Cycling team for the People’s Choice Classic (January 19th) and Santos Tour Down Under (January 21st-26th)
Jonathan Cantwell, Thomas Palmer, Travis Meyer, William Clarke, Bernard Sulzberger, Wesley Sulzberger, Darren Lapthorne