Once Orica-Greenedge lost Simon Gerrans to injury, they have turned to Daryl Impey to lead the team at the Tour Down Under. The South African was originally scheduled to be one of Gerrans best support riders at the event.

“There is no getting around it, Simon was our man of the race,” Impey told VeloNews on Friday. “He was the guy that was going to come in top form with the rest of us filling in the support role.”

But Impey isn’t too phased by taking on a leadership role, as he has been training well and says his form is good.

“I’ve been working hard,” said Impey. “Even though I was going to play a support role I was going to come in really fit anyway. While things changed, I don’t think things changed too much. I think there is just a lot more pressure on my shoulders.”

Impey is a quick rider who will be one of the quickest when it comes to stealing bonus seconds at the race, which are so crucial to winning the event overall.

“For me it’s about trying to get as many bonus seconds as I can,” he added. “There’s no doubt about that.”

However, Impey acknowledged that there will be many riders, like Haas and Evans, who will want those valuable seconds too.

“There are a lot of guys with the same idea,” Impey said. “Luckily we have a team that’s done it before as we’ve won quite a few races by chasing bonus seconds.”

Impey’s DS Matt White says that they will rely on Impey to get a good result, but there won’t be the same pressure on him as there would be on Gerrans.

“A big part of Daryl’s year is obviously March,” said White. “He’s in good shape over the summer and it will be interesting to see how he goes this week.”

“I am pretty sure the group of guys we have will show the preparations they’ve done and I don’t think there is a more motivated team on the start list than us and Daryl will be relied on to help lead the way.”