Tour Down Under 2016: Jack Bobridge’s daughter cheers on her dad

JACK Bobridge’s biggest fan is only 16 months old and her feet only just touch the ground when she’s riding her balance bike but importantly she knows how to say ‘go dad’.

CYCLING - Tour Down Under - National Road Champion and local hero Jack Bobridge with his 16 month old daughter Amellie. Photo Sarah Reed.

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JACK Bobridge’s biggest fan is only 16 months old and her feet only just touch the ground when she’s riding her balance bike but importantly she knows how to say ‘go dad’.

Australia’s new road champion will start the Tour Down Under in Prospect on Tuesday with his daughter Amelie and wife Josephine watching from the roadside.

“She knows how to say dad except she thinks every person who rides past on a bike is me,” Bobridge joked on Monday.

“Last year they were only here for a short time and had to leave when the race started.

“It’s a hectic week and I don’t get to see them much but it’s really nice to have them here.”

Not surprisingly given both her parents are former track world champions, Amelie is already showing an interest in the bike.

“She’s got a balance bike and a little three-wheeler and she loves them,” said Bobridge, who rides for Trek-Segafredo.

“And Jose took my mountain bike and got a baby seat on the back for them to go riding as well.”

The peloton is bracing for 39C heat when Stage 1 begins in Prospect on Tuesday and takes them 130.8km north east to Lyndoch — not far from where Bobridge grew up in Gawler.

Last year he won the opening stage of the race when he escaped in a breakaway which held on to the finish.

“They’re unlikely to let me up the road this year,” Bobridge said.

“But our sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo showed he had good legs on Sunday night, if you take Caleb (Ewan) out of it, he was a full bike length in front of third.

“I reckon it will be 40C by the time we get to Lyndoch but that’s good for me, I’ve been here for a few months so the hotter the better.

“And I said to the guys I know that area pretty well because I used to train here every day. It’s going to be a pretty fast finish from Williamstown to Lyndoch.”

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Originally published as Tour Down Under 2016: Jack Bobridge’s daughter cheers on her dad