Archie Ryan has had time to acclimatise in Australia ahead of his first race of the season, Santos Tour Down Under. And the Irishman says he cannot wait to get going with EF Education-EasyPost in the six-stage race.
The World Tour event features two climbing stages back-to-back, on Willunga Hill and Mount Lofty, on the last weekend of competition. They are two days that can really suit Ryan’s attacking brand of climbing if he can find his feet so early in the campaign.
And while the 22-year-old sounds very upbeat before the first battle of 2024, his team manager has promised the freedom to race in Australia; selecting a line-up absent of a big name riders the others would naturally have to fall in behind.
“I’m super happy to be here, starting the season, starting my first race with the team,” Ryan said. “We’ve got a good bunch of boys this year as well so it should be good fun.
“There are four of us that are new here on the team, but we all gelled together already. It feels natural already and we’re only a couple of days in. I’m having a good time. I’m really excited to get the season started. I can’t wait. If I could fast forward to stage one, I would. I just want to race.”
EF Education-EasyPost sport director, Tom Southam, says the team is made up of very young riders getting used to new surroundings, with only one of them – Jonas Rutsch – having competed in Tour Down Under before with EF.
Jack Rootkin-Gray, Jardi van der Lee and Ryan are the neo pros in the line-up. They are also joined by more experienced riders in Stefan de Bod and Owain Doull, who have ridden Tour Down Under with other teams, and the experienced Australian, Harry Sweeny.
“It’s a really good race for them to start at. It’s quite an exciting race and they should be able to be competitive, even the neo-pros,” said Southam.
“It’s not overly complex technically-speaking so there’s quite a bit of space for them to have a chance to develop and grow.
“Mixed in with those guys, we’ve got riders like Owain and Harry – even though Harry’s never done the race before – tons of experience, stable hands, very strong riders. It’s a really good mix. I want the guys to have the freedom to race hard and to enjoy the first race.”
The race starts next Tuesday, January 16th, and will continue until Sunday, January 21st. The team will also take on the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (1.UWT) a week later, Sunday, January 28th.
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