Jayco Arulla is no stranger to competing against WorldTour superteams. [Five Australians - Caleb Yuan, Luke Plapp, Chris Harper, Michael Hepburn, and Kelland O'Brien - swept the national titles and swept the time trial and road race podiums. They were joined by New Zealand's Campbell Stewart and Simon Yates, who finished second last year.

"Everyone looks really good," Yates told Cycling News on Monday. "When I arrived on the plane I opened my phone to see what was going on at the All-Japan Championships. I turned on the TV and saw that Harper and Plappy were four and a half minutes apart, and at one point they were even further apart.

"I wondered if they even needed to arrive. They were in such good shape that I thought, 'Oh, these guys have it covered.'"

Plapp has been training in the heat of Bright's climb, staying in a sponsor-specified Jayco Caravan on his bush block, and at a team media event at the Jayco showroom, he jokingly attributed all of his success to the Caravan The two-time national title winner's readiness to race is also unquestioned, but he quickly clarified the team's pecking order. [Yates, who finished second last year, said that this course with Willunga suits him. So I want to play a role in helping him succeed and win. But at the end of the day, we're here to win."

Jayco has a variety of options to make that happen, led by Harper, who finished second in the time trial and road race. But as Yates points out, Australia's only WorldTour team will always be under pressure in the Tour Down Under, regardless of who makes the squad.

"This is one of those races that is so important to us that we can't escape it," Yates said. But even with that out of the way, personally I'm more relaxed going into it than I was last year."

Yates may be relaxed, but Plapp is clearly excited. When asked if the Tour Down Under was his favorite race on the calendar, Plapp grinned and replied: "Behind the Tour of Bright," which was only half a joke, given the enthusiasm he showed at the local state-level race in December.

The 23-year-old, who moved from Ineos Grenadiers to Jayco Aroura this season, is full of confidence in his new team, which has plenty of options, including "red hot form" Euan.

"Honestly, we are looking to win every stage and every GC," he said. I am confident we have a great group of riders."

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