Australian Allan Davis has signed with the Professional Continental team Mitsubishi-Jartazi, the team announced Thursday. The sprinter, who rode last year with the now defunct Discovery Channel team, scored six wins for that squad in 2007, but had been unable to secure a contract for 2008 after the team folded.
At this time last year, the plucky Aussie sprinter was a key rider at Milano-Sanremo, where he featured prominently in the finale and finished just behind Rabobank's Oscar Freire, using a perfect bike-throw to snatch second from Tom Boonen (Quick Step), with his fellow Aussies Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) 4th and Stuart O'Grady (CSC) in 5th.
Davis also won a stage of the Volta a Catalunya and five stages of the Tour of Qinghai Lake but then he was entangled in allegations of involvement in Operación Puertothat resurfaced and nearly kept him from racing the World Championships in Stuttgart.
Article continues belowDavis fought off the attempted ban by the UCI, and has insisted that he had nothing to do with the affair (see statement) and was one of the first to sign the UCI's anti-doping charter. He raced in the Herald Sun Tour in October last year for the Australian FRF Couriers/NSWS team, and then in January of this year he animated the Tour Down Under as part of the UniSA team, where he took a stage victory and challenged High Road's Andre Greipel for the overall win until the final stage.
The UCI vice president and fellow Australian Ray Godkin supported Davis in his search for a new team in January.
Davis is expected to make his debut with the team at either the Dwars door Vlaanderen on March 26 or the E3-Prijs on the 29th.
