The BMC Racing Team has its sights set on making a good first impression in its ProTeam debut Sunday when the Santos Tour Down Under begins in Adelaide, Australia.

Sprinters Get The Early Nod
In the BMC Racing Team’s first appearance in the Santos Tour Down Under last year, Cadel Evans finished sixth overall and earned the Most Aggressive jersey after Stage 5. Martin Kohler also wore the Best Young Rider jersey for a day and Tim Roe – who rode for Team UniSA – finished 13th overall and donned the King of the Mountains jersey for a time. This time, Roe and Kohler are expected to provide support to the BMC Racing Team’s sprinters, Alexander Kristoff and John Murphy, while helping supporting the team’s aspirations in the overall classification.

Several Options To Play
“Our main focus will be to come out of this race with some ProTeam points,” BMC Racing Team Assistant Directeur Sportif Michael Sayers said. “We have Kristoff and Murphy for the sprints, so we’ll primarily be riding for those guys the first couple of days. If things open up after a bit, we can let guys like Simon Zahner, Amaël Moinard, Alessandro Ballan and Kohler chase the breakaways. Tim is also very motivated and finished 10th in his national road race last weekend. So if we come out of the race with a couple top five finishes in the stages, that would be perfect.”

Santos Tour Down Under Roster (Jan. 16-23)
Alessandro Ballan (ITA),
Martin Kohler (SUI),
Alexander Kristoff (NOR),
John Murphy (USA),
Amaël Moinard (FRA),
Tim Roe (AUS),
Simon Zahner (SUI).

Sport Director:
Michael Sayers (USA)