Michael Storer may have hoped to come into this year's Giro d'Italia under the radar.
There's fat chance of that now.
After winning the Tour of the Alps last month in a thrilling battle with Thymen Arensman, the 30-year-old West Australian has firmly announced himself as a contender for a podium spot at the year's opening grand tour.
Not that the softly-spoken rider seems too worried.
"I just take it as a compliment that people think I can do it," Storer said to a small group of journalists in an online press conference from Albania, where this year's Giro gets underway on Friday night (AEDT).
"It just shows that I've come a long way, now I'm getting mentioned.
"Hopefully I can also deliver on that. But if I don't, like, I'm used to getting beaten, so it's not a big problem for me."
It's not as if Storer is an unknown.
In 2021 Storer won the prestigious Tour de l'Ain as well as two stages and the mountains classification at the Vuelta a España, only the second rider from Australia to do so after Simon Clarke in 2012 (Jay Vine went on to win it in 2024).
Storer also won the Tour de l'Ain in 2023, before coming 10th at last year's Giro — one of two Aussies who finished inside the top 10 overall, alongside Ben O'Connor (fourth).
But it is his performances this year that have got his teammates purring, including a snowy stage victory at Paris-Nice.
Road captain of Tudor Pro Cycling Larry Warbasse recently told the Cycling Podcast that Storer was capable of surpassing O'Connor's performance and making the podium.
"Last year I did the Tour of the Alps and Giro d'Italia with Ben O'Connor. Michael is physically at least one level above Ben last year.
"I think he is capable of showing great things … Michael really has that enormous talent.
"On a purely physical level, Michael is capable of going for the podium. Even if he maintains the same level as in the Tour of the Alps. His values are unreal.
"He himself prefers to go for stages, because that gives less stress. But when you're as good as he is, you just have to go for the general classification."
When it was put to Storer that he was producing eye-catching numbers in training, he again batted off the question.
"Him [Warbasse] saying I have really good power numbers, it was our first year as a teammate with him, so I've always been doing good power numbers, he just didn't know me before joining the team," Storer said with a grin.
"But yeah, I found a little bit extra this year," he acknowledged.
Storer has put extra emphasis on his position on the bike this year, particularly in the time trial, in anticipation of being able to challenge for general classification spots.
Storer acknowledged that the time trial was "a clear weakness" for him, the Australian sacrificing too much time to his rivals to stay in contention.
But the talent in the race of truth has always been there — Storer is a junior World Championship bronze medallist in the discipline, beating out noted time triallist Filippo Ganna in Ponferrada in 2014.
With 42.3km on the TT bike at this year's Giro, Storer said the extra work he put into the event was key and could prove to be a bonus.
"It's also an opportunity," he said.
"Because working on it there's a lot more gains to be made, so hopefully that pays off this year."
Storer 'realistic' as Australian king-makers dominate the peloton
It goes without saying, that if Storer is to claim victory — or even stand on the podium in Rome on June 1 — he will need the ride of his life.
"Who doesn't dream of it?" Storer said when asked if he was dreaming of wearing the pink jersey in Rome.
"But let's be realistic here. It's extremely hard to win this race.
"I'd be happy with my race as long as I do the best I can, whether that puts me in the top 10 or the pink jersey or or I'm struggling to get through, if I do the best race I can, I'm satisfied with that.
"But of course I wanna bring home some results too."
Working against him to get those results will be several of his fellow Australians, mostly in aid of their team leaders.
Indeed, this 108th edition of the Giro d'Italia features one of the deepest fields of favourites at any grand tour this century and the Australian super domestiques could end up being decisive in the overall destination of the pink jersey.
Five-time grand tour winner Primož Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) leads the charge as favourite and one of five former Giro winners who will appear on the start line, with 22-year-old Spanish upstart Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates) tipped as his closest challenger.
Roglic has 2022 Giro winner Jai Hindley at his disposal, while Ayuso will have last year's mountains classification winner at the Vuelta Jay Vine as part of his all-star cast of domestiques which includes former Tour de France young rider jersey winner Adam Yates, who may have his own aspirations of glory in the absence of world champion teammate and last year's winner, Tadej Pogacar.
They are just two of the 14 Aussies on the start list this year.
"I think it's really nice that we have a lot of Australians in the race," Storer said.
"It just shows that what was going on in the cycling scene in Australia 10, 15 years ago, up until now, is really good for bringing us all up to a high level where we can all make it into the top of the sport.
"And for Perth we also had a really good local scene back when I was coming through and that was really essential for me to becoming professional."
It's not just Roglic and Ayuso who Storer will likely be up against, though.
Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), winner in 2021, is finally looking like himself after a horrific collision with a bus almost cost him his life in 2022 and has Storer's Tour de Alps nemesis Thymen Arensman and Aussie Lucas Hamilton at his disposal.
Even further down the list of contenders there are Aussies who will do anything to disrupt Storer's challenge.
Aussie pair Simon Clarke and Nick Schultz will be working for Israel-Premier Tech's challenger, Derek Gee, Team Picnic PostNL's Alex Edmonson and Chris Hamilton are set to be Romain Bardet's top teammates, while Team Jayco AlUla will have Michael Hepburn and Luke Plapp working to set up Chris Harper for an assault on the top 10.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education), the 2019 Giro winner, is another who cannot be discounted from the overall race win, as is Bahrain-Victorious's Italian hope Antonio Tiberi.
Kaden Groves faces tough sprint tests
At the other end of the peloton, Australian sprinter Kaden Groves has been handed leadership responsibility at Alpecin-Deceuninck with one goal in mind — the sprinters maglia ciclamino.
The two-time defending points jersey winner at the Vuelta a España and eight-time grand tour stage winner (one of which came at the Giro in 2023, the other seven at Spain's grand tour) is yet to win a race in 2025, but was fifth in Milan-Sanremo and had a second and a third place finish at the Volta a Catalunya behind teenage British phenom Matthew Brennan.
"For sure, we are aiming for stage wins at this Giro. That's what this team is built for, and that's our ambition again this year," sport director Gianni Meersman told the Alpecin-Deceuninck website.
"Kaden Groves is our leader. After dealing with knee issues earlier this year, his full focus has been on the Giro, he's pain-free now, and we believe he's ready to show his form, hopefully right from the first sprint opportunity in Tirana."
Belgian trio Edward Planckaert, Timo Kielich and Fabio van den Bossche will make up Groves' sprint train, although 24-year-old Victorian Jensen Plowright will also be on hand to assist, riding in his first ever grand tour.
"This Giro will be about gaining experience," Meersman said.
"It's time for him to taste what racing over three weeks is like. We see potential in him for the future."
Six of the stages are classed as "flat" in this year's race, but a handful of those could be considered lumpy at best, downright hilly at worst, meaning sprinting is not going to be for the faint hearted — or potentially the big fast men.
Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) is the most experienced straight sprinter of the bunch, with 10 grand tour stage wins to his name — albeit none since 2022 — although the 34-year-old Irishman has been in great form to start the year, picking up three wins.
Rising French star Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick Step) is someone who cannot be discounted after he beat a host of top talent to the line in the first stage of Étoile de Bessèges earlier this year, with Milan Fretin (Cofodis) also one to watch after taking some serious scalps at the Volta ao Algarve.
Visma-Lease a Bike seemingly have options aplenty in this regard, with Olav Kooij desperately fast on the flat and the clear sprint leader, but unfairly maligned team leader Wout van Aert is also in the pack, desperate to show the world that he still has it and could pick up plenty of points on the harder days.
Mads Pedersen though should be the favourite, a rider who has proven his ability to power through the toughest of sprints after the toughest of terrains in the lead-up — he beat van Aert and classics king Mattieu van der Poel to finish runner up at the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
When is the Giro d'Italia?
The Giro gets underway on Friday night (AEDT), with all stages shown live on SBS Viceland.
