Tour Down Under: Orica’s Colombian kangaroo not taking too much cake on board

Colombian climber Esteban Chaves says he can win the Tour Down Under but accepts the toughness of the challenge.

Orica-Scott rider Esteban Chaves sizes up a slice of his birthday cake. Picture: Matt Turner.

Pint-sized Colombian climber Esteban Chaves says he can win this week’s Tour Down Under, but he will have to battle in-form Australians Richie Porte and Simon Gerrans, and Slovakian world road champion Peter Sagan to take the international cycling calendar opener.

Chaves, who calls himself the Colombian kangaroo because he rides for Australian team Orica-Scott, will today celebrate his 27th birthday on the first stage, which covers 145km from suburban Adelaide to Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley.

Today’s forecast of 38C could suit the South American, who has been in Australia acclimatising and training with his teammates for several weeks.

Despite most of the pressure this week falling on Australian shoulders, Chaves and Colombian counterparts Sergio Henao and Jarlinson Pantano could also figure in the stages. “Henao is in ­really good shape because the last race he had was in the Olympics and I know him, he’s one guy who trains super, super well and he’s hungry all the time, he’s a fighter,” Chaves said. “I look at Pantano and he’s skinny, he’s going really, really well.”

Chaves last year finished second in the Giro d’Italia, and he has won stages in the race and the Vuelta a Espana.

Despite not speaking a word of English when he transferred to Orica-Scott in 2014 after starting his professional career with Colombia-Coldeportes two years earlier, Chaves said it was an advantage to be racing with a non-European team.

“For sure 70 or 80 per cent of the riders want to come here to this team,” he said.

“This team is different for riders, we have racers with heart, we have passion, we have really good atmosphere. It’s not a risk; it’s an advantage.”

Racing at the TDU is a first for Chaves, who usually starts his season later. While in Australia, he will renew his rivalry with three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in late January and at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in early February, before returning to Colombia for his national ­titles. “It’s a good test and to race with a champion like Christopher Froome. It’s always exciting, and to have this mountain finish like 20km (is) similar to Colombia, I hope not to take too much (birthday) cake to slow me down.”

Hailing from Bogota, which sits 2000m above sea level, Chaves said he was used to longer hills with climbs rather than the shorter, steep hills at this week’s TDU.

“Here is like seven minutes, 10 minutes, six, is different. For me it’s better to climb 45 minutes or 50 or one hour, so here it’s a bit different, I will train well and we will try for one good pursuit,” he said.

Tomorrow’s stage to Paracombe could also suit Chaves with several tough climbs and a hilltop finish.

“It’s a hard stage, it depends how the race is going. If the race is going really, really hard, it’s good for the climbers, not just for me,” he said. “Also Henao, Richie and the other climbers, but if the race is going like normal, one breakaway, you know easy … it’s more for the sprinter guys.”