Jake Latham
As the first race of the international UCI WorldTour Calendar nears closer, the WorldTour teams prepare their 7 man squads for the largest cycling event in Australia.
The tough 6 stage tour makes its way past the wineries in the rolling Adelaide Hills to the scenic coastline of South Australia, with the central attractions all taking place in the Adelaide CBD. The Santos Tour Down Under will begin with festivities on Saturday night 16 January, with the twilight Down Under Classic criterium on the Sunday night at 7pm, then Tuesday is the first stage of the tour.
Some of the remaining teams have some prior Tour Down Under champions and stage winners amongst them looking to repeat or better their previous results, for the teams competing in the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under, here are their 7 man squads.
Astana Pro Team (KAZ) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Stefano Zanini (ITA) and includes:
- Lars Boom (NED)
- Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ)
- Laurens De Vreese (BEL)
- Arman Kamyshev (KAZ)
- Davide Malacarne (ITA)
- Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP)
- Lieuwe Westra (NED)
Team Dimension Data (RSA) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Alex Sans Vega (ESP) and includes:
- Cameron Meyer (AUS)
- Nathan Haas (AUS)
- Mark Renshaw (AUS)
- Tyler Farrar (USA)
- Jim Songezo (RSA)
- Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)
- Jaco Venter (RSA)
Etixx-Quickstep (BEL) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Rik Van Slycke (BEL) and includes:
- Petr Vakoc (CZE)
- Davide Martinelli (ITA)
- Pieter Serry (BEL)
- David De La Cruz (ESP)
- Guillaume Van Keirsbulk (BEL)
- Martin Velits (SVK)
- Carlos Verona (ESP)
Lampre-Merida (ITA) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Philippe Maudit (FRA) and includes:
- Frederico Zurlo (ITA)
- Tsgabu Grmay (ETH)
- Louis Meint Jes (RSA)
- Luka Pibernik (SLO)
- Marko Kump (SLO)
- Diego Ulissi (ITA)
- Manuele Mori (ITA)
Lotto-Soudal (BEL) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Mario Aerts (BEL) and includes:
- Thomas De Gendt (BEL)
- Lars Bak (DEN)
- Gert Dockx (BEL)
- Gregory Henderson (NZL)
- Rafael Valls Ferri (SPA)
- Pim Ligthart (NED)
- Adam Hansen (AUS)
Movistar Team (ESP) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP) and includes:
- Juan Jose Lobato (ESP)
- Rory Sutherland (AUS)
- Jasha Sutterlin (GER)
- Nelson Oliverira (POR)
- Rubén Fernandez (ESP)
- Jesus Herrada (ESP)
- Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP)
Orica-GreenEdge (AUS) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Shayne Bannan (AUS) and includes:
- Michael Albasini (SUI)
- Luke Durbridge (AUS)
- Caleb Ewan (AUS)
- Simon Gerrans (AUS)
- Mathew Hayman (AUS)
- Michael Hepburn (AUS)
- Daryl Impey (RSA)
Team Giant-Alpecin (GER) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Aike Visbeek (NED) and includes:
- Simon Geschke (GER)
- Bert De Backer (BEL)
- Koen De Kort (NED)
- Georg Preidler (AUT)
- Cheng Ji (CHN)
- Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
- Tom Veelers (NED)
Team Lotto NL-Jumbo (NED) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Frans Massen (NED) and includes:
- Bram Tankink (NED)
- Maarten Tjallingii (NED)
- George Bennett (NZL)
- Primoz Roglic (SLO)
- Martjin Keizer (NED)
- Bert-Jan Lindeman (NED)
- Enrico Battaglin (ITA)
Team SKY (GBR) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Kurt Arvesen (NOR) and includes:
- Geraint Thomas (GBR)
- Sergio Henao (COL)
- Salvatore Puccio (ITA)
- Peter Kennaugh (GBR)
- Ian Stannard (GBR)
- Luke Rowe (GBR)
- Ben Swift (GBR)
Team Tinkoff (RUS) at the 2016 Santos Tour Down Under will be led by Team Manager Lars Michaelsen (DEN) and includes:
- Manuele Boaro (ITA)
- Oscar Gatto (ITA)
- Adam Blythe (GBR)
- Michael Gogl (AUT)
- Ivan Rovny (RUS)
- Jay McCarthy (AUS)
- Michael Andersen (DEN)
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