TeamSASI: “Our Day Will Come!”

One of the proudest mentors heading to Toowoomba tomorrow for the start of the 2012 Tour of Toowoomba is Tim Decker, Head Cycling Coach at the South Australian Sports Institute.

The SASI has put together a National Road Series team  this year, and the starting line-up at Toowoomba will include Fraser Northy, Karl Evans, Harry Carpenter, Andrew Roe, and Phil Mundy, as well as Brendon Cole from NSW.

Each of these riders has been given the opportunity to compete in some of the best road races in Australia to assist their development as elite sportsmen, and although they may lack the powerhouse punch of teams such as Genesys and Budget, Tim is confident that one or two of his charges will surprise the opposition, once the Tour of Toowoomba gets underway.

“We are a new team with talent” Tim explained, and team morale is great around our whole set up. We’ve just come off an overall win in the Bendigo Tour with our U19 riders over the long weekend,  and Phil Mundy has just returned home from his first International trip, competing in the Tour of Singkarak with the Australian National Team.”

“Our team for Toowoomba went through some special drills for the TTT and climbing stages, and every effort has been made to bring our group closer together, not just in training, but also out on the race course where riders need to have the utmost respect for each other as well as the other guys they race against.”

With a team filled with climbers and time trialists, it is fairly obvious where the intentions of this young South Australian side lie.

“We haven’t sent any sprinters this time around (so draw your own conclusions), but one thing is for certain- we race to win, not just for the sake of racing.”

Like all of this year’s coaches, Tim Decker has a great respect for the Genesys Wealth Advisers team.

“Most talk Genesys because of the year they had last year, and their line up is still amazing.  However, one stand out rider in my books is Mark O’Brien from Budget Forklifts. As for the TTT, I think the VIS will show their strength in this event with riders like Alex Morgan and Jack Cummings.”

And a final few words from Tim...

It means the world to me to see one of our SASI athletes climb onto the podium in Toowoomba, to see the athletes you have worked with get the just reward for the work they have put in. And it would be justification for the set up I have been working so hard on.

I believe everybody has their day, and I know what our guys have done, so their day is coming as well.”