Avanti Racing Team has announced that five of its riders will join the UniSA national team to represent Australia at the Santos Tour Down Under, kicking-off today with the People Choice’s Classic criterium.

Anthony Giacoppo, Mark O’Brien, Campbell Flakemore, Neil Van der Ploeg and Jack Haig are Avanti Racing Team riders chosen for the national team, alongside Brad Linfield and Caleb Ewan, and all express their excitement to be given an opportunity to race at the World Tour level.

"We work so hard for our rider’s to get these opportunities, this is what it’s all about for us," said Christie-Johnston. "The fact that some of our graduates like Will Clarke, Richie Porte and Steele Von Hoff are also racing gives the current Avanti guys the confidence that they can make it to the top level permanently."

"Ultimately we want to send more guys to the WorldTour," said Price. "For our riders to have the chance to use the UniSA team as a stepping stone to what we hope will be a long and fruitful career is perfect."

Having the World Tour debut already under his belt, 27-year old Anthony Giacoppo is expected to provide his team-mates with valuable support and experience.

"I think it will be to my advantage having done my first TDU last year as I’ll have a better understanding of how it all works," said Giacoppo. "I think for some, your first big race -especially a WorldTour race- can be a bit daunting."

"The sprints at TDU are very hectic and very fast, if you get too far out of position it is very difficult to get back into position. Once you lose a wheel you tend to get shuffled back down the peloton very quickly due to the high speeds," explained Giacoppo. "The other thing you need to be very careful of are the crashes, unfortunately they are quite common at this race."

Even though Neil Van der Ploeg finished fourth in the elite men’s road race at the Australian road nationals in 2013, he wasn’t included in Australia’s national representation for Tour Down Under last season and now the powerful sprinter feels privileged to debut in the outfit of UniSA team.

"I was unlucky last year, but probably lucky this year. It's a great privilege and I'm grateful for the opportunity. It's pretty awesome for Australian riders to have something like the UniSA team to strive for," said the 26-year-old. "When I finished nationals in 2013, I thought I was guaranteed a place in the team -by being the first non-professional rider-as it had been in the past. I was in tears of joy, but when I didn't get the spot I was absolutely gutted.

"I went to watch the race, as I had already planned to go, but struggled a little bit with the disappointment of coming so close. So to be picked this year, I feel very lucky," he said. "I'd have to say the Willunga Hill stage is what I am looking forward to the most, I saw the crowds last year and it was incredible. It will be awesome to experience that type of crowd as a rider, I can't wait."

Campbell Flakemore has raced extensively with Ewan and Linfield with the Jayco World Tour Academy last year, and now is expected to use this experience in positioning his team-mates coming into stage finishes. He is also a powerful time-trialist, even though his last ITT at the Australian nationals didn’t went as he originally planned.

"I had an interrupted run in to the national championships [where he placed fourth in the U23 TT] but surprised myself with not too bad a ride on the day," said Flakemore. "I think I’ll be back on board by the time TDU starts, I just can’t wait to get amongst some top level racing."

Being a newcomer to road cycling with only one season under his belt, Jack Haig do not have any particular expectations coming into the race, apart from gaining some valuable experience.

"To tell you the truth I don’t really have any expectations coming into the race," said Haig. "I just want to try and do the best I can, gain some experience and try to learn as much as possible. I’m looking forward to simply being part of a World Tour race," said Haig. "This is what I want to do in a year or two as a full-time professional, so to get the opportunity to have a go early-on and try and learn from these guys is ideal.

"I think I might wait until we climb up the Corkscrew late in stage three and see how I go up there. If I climb well on there then I might try and sit in and wait until the fifth stage around Willunga Hill and try to hang on for a good GC result," said the 2013 NRS champion. "But there are some incredibly talented guys here and it’s going to be very hard."

The new Avanti Racing Team rider Mark O’Brien, having represented Australia many times at World Championships in his age categories and at the Herald Sun Tour, has finally been invited to join the UniSA team after he recorded an impressive show-off at the final stages of the last elite men’s road race at the Australian road nationals.

"I've been at every edition of TDU just training and watching the race and I’ve always dreamed about getting a start," said the 26-year-old. "I was hopeful after my 2009 season where I raced well at the U23 Worlds, and went on to finish 10th in the men’s road race at Nationals, but it didn't materialise.

"Since then I have targeted Nationals every year in the hope of qualifying but it has never quite happened, which makes this year all the more special."

O’Brien was impressive at the national championships last week where he launched an imposing attack on the last ascent of Mt Buninyong. Having risked it all he paid the price when eventual winner Simon Gerrans launched his final bid for victory, but the already in the red zone O’Brien held on to a commendable seventh place finish.

"Being amongst the strongest at nationals and riding strongly against the three guys who finished on the podium -who are also some of the favourites for TDU- I suppose that gives me some confidence that I may be competitive," said O’Brien. "I know that the best guys will have improved from nationals, so I will need to lift my game to be competitive on the hard days, especially with more depth in the field.

"I will back myself and give it everything but having never raced a World Tour race before, I'm unsure what to expect."

."All the stages are challenging, and have great potential for splits in the peloton. I will be hoping to make it into a break or two to show my face throughout," explained O’Brien. "But I would like to have a go up the corkscrew, and also the Willunga stage.

"The Willunga stage probably suits me better because it's a more straight-forward run in, and will come down more to pure climbing speed. I'm super excited to make the most of this great opportunity, and hopefully come away with something whether that's a breakaway, stage result, or ideally a high GC result."