Australian Neil van der Ploeg ready for breakout 2016 Tour de Korea campaign
:focal(174x147:176x145)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/01/04/1764690-37291963-310-310.jpg)
Updated 04/06/2016 at 13:34 GMT
Avanti-IsoWhey Sport’s Neil van der Ploeg is one of many riders ready to take the reins and record top race results at the 2016 Tour de Korea…
Aussie sprinter encouraged by Tour de Korea start list
Image credit: Eurosport
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/06/04/1869098-39378958-2560-1440.jpg)
Australian Neil van der Ploeg ready to follow in fellow Avanti-IsoWhey Sport alumnus wheeltracks to WorldTour - Photo credit: Daebong Kim/Tour de Korea
Image credit: Eurosport
BUSAN, South Korea—Australian sprinter Neil van der Ploeg (Avanti-IsoWhey Sport) was a media favourite during 2016 Tour de Korea press conference in Busan, South Korea, on Saturday, June 4.
The 28-year-old Aussie shared the pre-race panel with Genki Yamamoto (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Peter Williams (One Pro Cycling), Oleg Zemlyakov (Vino 4ever SKO), along with Korean national champion Sanghong Park (LX-IIBS Cycling Team), as well as compatriots and KSPO teammates Hyo Suk Gong and Joon Yong Seo.
The older brother of 2013 mountain bike eliminator world champion, Paul van der Ploeg, kicked off the discussion with a joke about sharing the stage with recent finishers of the Giro d’Italia (Yamamoto) and the Tour of Norway (Williams), while his last start coming in the small country town race of the Tour of Wangaratta in his native home state of Victoria.
“My condition we think is quite good … obviously, it’s not as tested as the guys here to my right,” said van der Ploeg looking at Yamamoto and Williams. “But in the past two years we’ve had a really good time in Korea and we’ve been on the podium both times overall and we’ve won a stage last year as well.
“If we could finish on the final podium and get a stage that would make for a very successful tour for Avanti-IsoWhey Sport.”
The race is celebrating its 16th year, including its 10th under event organiser KSPO, which has grown the race to international prominence and UCI classification upgrades (2.1), and has attracted many of the best and brightest including last year’s winner Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge), who is half Korean.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/06/04/1869099-39378978-2560-1440.jpg)
Australian Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) claimed the 2015 Tour de Korea title ahead of former Avanti-IsoWhey Sport rider Patrick Bevin, now of Cannondale Pro Cycling, and former OGE teammate Adam Blythe - Photo credit: Daebong Kim/Tour de Korea
Image credit: Eurosport
The 21-year-old Australian sprinting sensation battled it out with fellow sprinters and new Cannondale Pro cycling teammates Wouter Wippert (NED) and Patrick Bevin (NZL), who raced for Drapac Pro Cycling and Avanti Racing respectively last year.
While this year’s eight-day stage race lacks last year’s star power, the future looks bright for those wanting to steal the spotlight.
“I raced with ‘Paddy’ Bevin quite a bit last year,” explained van der Ploeg. “He is an exceptional athlete, and when you have someone on your team who’s that good you definitely end up riding for that person for a lot of the races.
“This year, we probably have more of an open sort of plan,” he continued. “We haven’t really seen how the other teams are in the sprint, so I think we will try to get a lead-out going and that will probably be me on the back of it.
“If that goes well, then maybe it will give me an opportunity for [general classification] and some stages.”
For the past five years, the Avanti Racing Team has been collecting Australian National Road Series titles and churning out pro riders the likes of Bevin, Richie Porte (BMC Racing), Nathan Haas (Dimension Data), Jack Haig (Orica-GreenEdge) and Brenton Jones (Drapac), as well as Nathan Earle (formerly Team Sky, now Drapac), Steele von Hoff (formerly Garmin-Sharp, now One Pro Cycling), Will Clarke (formerly Team Argos-Shimano, now Drapac) and recently retired Campbell Flakemore (BMC Racing).
“The team has a really good culture and has had a lot of riders move on to the next level,” said the third-year Avanti veteran.
“I think a lot of riders come in to this team very motivated and really looking to make a mark.”
One team that will not be taking Avanti lightly is British Pro Continental squad, One Pro Cycling.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/06/04/1869100-39378998-2560-1440.jpg)
Peter Williams (GBR) likes his One Pro Cycling team's chances at the 2016 Tour de Korea despite the challenge from the overachieving Avanti-IsoWhey Sport team - Photo credit: Daebong Kim/Tour de Korea
Image credit: Eurosport
“Every race we turn up for, we want to perform,” said team rider Peter Williams, who is fresh off a second-place finish at the French one-day race of Tro-Bro Léon (UCI 1.1).
“I’ve been in situations where I’ve been on a Continental team where you roll up to races wanting to show up the big boys,” the 29-year-old continued. “We may be one of the bigger teams here, but don’t think we are not motivated to get results and perform.”
Williams believes the parcours benefits the sprinters and has faith in teammate and fellow Brit Chris Opie to mix it up in the bunch sprint finals, but also feels that new team rider Richard Handley (GBR), who finished fifth overall last year and wore the yellow leaders jersey for a day in 2014, has the experience and skillset to steal a stage on a break if given the opportunity.
Aside from van der Ploeg and Opie, Australian Brenton Jones (Drapac Pro Cycling), Briton Russell Downing (JLT-Condor) and Italians Antonio Viola (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Andrea Peron (Team Novo Nordisk) will also be vying for sprint stages, as well as points and general classification jerseys.
“Last year was very special for Tour de Korea, and the sign-on of Orica-GreenEdge was extremely important for the media coverage and overall popularity of the race internationally,” said EJ Koh, head of international affairs for the Korean Cycling Federation.
“The competition for the yellow jersey between 2015 race winner Caleb Ewan and his rivals was fierce and proved why Tour de Korea is a jewel in the UCI Asia Tour crown.”
According to Koh, this year’s race may be more open and exciting than ever before.
“We always encourage the world’s best riders to join us, and we feel confident this year’s start list is a very competitive playing field … perhaps even more so than last year as this week it’s anybody’s race to win,” she said.
“Remember, Wouter Wippert and Patrick Bevin were on Pro Continental and Continental teams respectively last year, and now both are riding on the World Tour together for Cannondale Pro Cycling,” Koh continued. “So we are looking at many of tomorrow’s brightest stars today and it will be exciting to see who is ready to shine and take the next step by adding a very respected Tour de Korea stage win or general classification title to their palmarés.”
Like Koh, van der Ploeg also believes this year’s race could be a real dogfight.
“Without a really strong team like Orica-GreenEdge, I think this race will be a bit more aggressive and more reminiscent of 2014,” said last year’s seventh-place finisher on GC, who placed fifth on points the year before. “But this is a very international field and the competition very strong … I’m really looking forward to the race and seeing what we can do.”
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement