Australian Continental squad Drapac Porsche Cycling kicked off its latest European campaign with a solid performance in Le Tour de Gironde that netted it a stage win and the King of the Mountains jersey.
The team of Australian national road champion Peter McDonald surpassed all expectations, with Stuart Shaw winning the first stage before wearing the yellow and green jerseys, while Peter McDonald heavily contributed to the success by winning the mountains classification.
Drapac Porsche directeur sportif Agostino Giramondo was obviously pleased with the performance, explaining that it puts them in good stead heading into the second half of the season. "The team's results have been very satisfying over the last four days. It proves that we are more than competitive at this level," he said.
"We came to this Tour to gain some invaluable experience and to come away with a stage win, the King of the Mountains jersey and few days in the yellow and green jersey's is exceptional. Full credit to all the team."
Drapac Porsche team captain Stuart Shaw featured highly throughout the four-day race, winning the first stage to give him the yellow and green jerseys which he proudly wore for the next two days. Shaw displayed his strength and versatility in finishing in the top 15 during three of the four stages.
"I have been training really well back in Canberra and I am really motivated to perform here in Europe," said Shaw after the final stage. "I crashed heavily in The Tour de Taiwan and was forced to have three weeks off the bike. It is great to see all the hard work I did to get myself back into shape pay off."
The team will travel back to its European base in Oudenaarde, Belgium before returning to France on the 11th June for their next race Le Ronde L'Oise which is another four day stage race in the north of France.
