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The excitement is over and the torture has started at the Giro d’Italia for rising Australian cycling star Luke Durbridge.
The 22-year-old Orica-GreenEDGE rider provided one of the Australian highlights so far in the three-week grand tour.
Durbridge is making his grand tour debut and he was an outstanding sixth in the stage-eight time trial.
He is a time specialist, having won the world under-23 championships in the discipline two years ago and taken out time trial stages in several shorter tours.
The top-10 result on the weekend again showcased the boundless potential of “Turbo Durbo”.
But a day later, Durbridge struggled through a hilly ninth stage and welcomed the first of two rest days.
The middle phase of the Giro before the second rest day features some brutal mountain stages and Durbridge knows he is in for a severe grand tour education.
“The first week is big and hyped-up, like any other week-long stage race,” he told AAP from Italy.
“It’s quite hard, obviously.
“But what’s really going to be the tough bit is the next week – this next six days.
“We go into the mountains and I’ve never raced this long – that’s going to start taking its toll.”
Durbridge was not sure if the hilly stage-eight time trial course would suit him or whether he would have the legs to be a factor.
But once he was out on the course, the West Australian soon knew he was in for a good day.
“I wanted to come to the race and be part of it – I didn’t want to come to the Giro just to be in the peloton and be in the last couple of wheels, making up numbers,” he said.
“Being in the top six is a big result for me, one I’m pretty happy with, but obviously there’s still more room for improvement.”
For the next fortnight, the main focus for Durbridge will be day-by-day survival.
“Stages just seem to go by in a blur,” he said.
“(Stage nine) was the first really big one where I had to suffer and get through, but I’m sure there are going to be many more before the tour is over.”
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