The Tour Down Under will be Tiago Machado’s first race for his new employers, Katusha, and he says he wants to impress, even if he isn’t sure about how his form is.

“This is the beginning of the season so I don’t know exactly what my condition is at the moment but I’ve worked to be in good shape now”, Machado told Cyclingnews in Adelaide prior to training in the hills. “I’ve been able to have a really nice training in Portugal since we haven’t had any rain or negative temperatures.”

He was 3rd in 2012 and 9th in 2013 on GC, so he has a good chance of recording a more than decent result once again in 2015. However, he acknowledges that he is up against a world class field.

“I haven’t had a look at the start list yet but I’ve seen a few riders at the restaurant who I believe will be the favorites: Richie Porte, Cadel Evans, Ryder Hesjedal, Luis Leon Sanchez, George Bennett,” said Machado. “I’m here to support the leaders of my team. Until we hit the road, I don’t consider myself as the team leader. The road will decide who the leader is. I completely trust José and Eki. The team believes in my potential and my team-mates are strong too. I’ll have to follow the best guys and if I can be one of them, I’ll be happy.”