Baden Cooke to lead Team UniSA

2003Tour de France Green Jersey Winner

MikeTurtur, Tour Down Under Race Director, announced the UniSA-Australiateam roster, which includes Australian cycling champions BadenCooke,Aaron Kemps and Scott Davis.

“It will be great to have Baden back on the race, as he always performs well,”said Mike Turtur.

“Baden is yet another successful Tour de France rider to be racing in Adelaide in 2009.”

South Australia’s Jack Bobridge will make his Tour Down Under debut in January.

Bobridgewas the 2007 Australian Junior Male Road Cyclist of the Year and in2008 represented Australia at the Beijing Olympic Games and the WorldTrack Championships. He recently dominated in the pursuit at theMelbourne round of the UCI Track World Cup and is tipped as one ofAustralia’s future stars.

“The UniSA-Australia team is a mix of international experience andsome of the youngest and brightest cycling talent in this country,”said Turtur.

CEO of Cycling Australia, Graham Fredericks, said, “The Tour DownUnder provides an unique opportunity for some of our talented youngAustralian riders to team with established champions in a ProTour racewith the world’s best road riders.”

The University of South Australia has been a sponsor of the Tour Down Under since 2001.

UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Høj said one of the mostrewarding aspects of the Tour Down Under sponsorship was supportingtalented Australian riders to take part in an event of internationalstatus.

“As a university we are in the business of providing educational opportunities that develop excellence,” said Peter Høj.

“Our support of the Tour Down Under extends that notion to sportsand also encourages the wider community to engage with what is aninspiring and health promoting event. I wish all the young athletes inTeam UniSA-Australia the very best of luck at the Tour.”

David Sanders (AUS) will be the Team Manager for the 2009UniSA-Australia team with the full rider list including: Baden Cooke(VIC), Aaron Kemps (QLD), Scott Davis (QLD), Travis Meyer (WA), JackBobridge (SA)and Simon Clarke (VIC).

The seventh rider of the UniSA–Australia team will be selected after the 2009 Australian Open Road Championships.