Baden Cooke leads Team Barloworld in Australia

While one Team Barloworld squad targets the end of season races in Italy, another has headed down under to Australia to ride the 57th edition of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour , the seven-day stage race held in Melbourne between Sunday October 12 and 18.

Local hero Baden Cooke will lead Team Barloworld on his return to Australia for the winter. The racing begins with a circuit race on a 2.1km city centre course around Traralgon that will be covered 21 times. The short stage is not valid for the overall classification but will give the race a fast start and suits Cooke's aggressive racing style and fast finish.

To help Cooke, Team Barloworld have selected South Africa's Daryl Impey, who has recently shown he can also do well in fast finishes. Directeur sportif Valerio Tebaldi will also be able to count on the support of young Italians Marco Corti and Carlo Scognamiglio.

The fourth stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour will be the decisive moment of the race because of the 16km climb up to the finish at the summit of Mt Buller. This stage will suit South African climber Chris Froome and also Portugal's Hugo Sabido. The fifth stage is a 16.2km time trial, with Froome again expected to impress.

The seven days of racing end on Saturday October 18 in the centre of Melbourne with a spectacular circuit race that will give Baden Cooke a great chance to end his season on a high.