Max Kanter finishes 6th at the Surf Coast Classic after a strong Tour Down Under - "I see a lot of positive things"

Max Kanter secured sixth place at the Surf Coast Classic in Australia on Thursday morning - the Eritrean sprinter Biniam Girmay from Intermarche - Wanty won the race. After strong performances at the Tour Down Under, where Kanter achieved four stage finishes in the top 10, the Cottbus-born rider was also in good form on the 158.6 kilometers between Lorne and Torquay.

Kanter, who switched from the Movistar Team to the Astana Qazaqstan Team before the season, revealed in an interview with radsport-news during the Tour Down Under that the cooperation with his new teammate Rüdiger Selig was one reason for his successful start to the season: "I see a lot of positive things. The chemistry between Rudi and me is right! Of course we want even more."

Selig, who is also riding his first season for the Astana Qazaqstan team following his departure from Lotto Dstny, gave an insight into the collaboration between the two German sprinters in an interview with radsport-news. "We have found each other and it harmonizes well. We were really together the whole day, he always stays on it (on Selig's rear wheel, ed.). That's very good," said the experienced rider. "It works well for the first sprints. He trusts me blindly, that's very, very nice and we can build on that."

Kanter will now try to maintain his high level of form in order to be able to fight for the top places in Australia's biggest one-day race - the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. When the race gets underway in Geelong on Sunday, January 28, the 28-year-old will once again have to make do without his sprint partner Selig, who was already missing from the start list at the Surf Coast Classic.

Article written by Nicolas Gayer.