ALEX Dowsett (Movistar Pro Cycling) was more than happy with his start to one of cycling's Grand Tours -but the Great Baddow rider knows that there is still a long way to go in a series that will see his talents stretched to the limit.
Dowsett's debut last weekend in the Giro d'Italia has seen him help the team sprinter Fran Ventoso to sixth place in Saturday's opening stage and then play a key role in Sunday's 17.4km team time trial that saw the Essex rider come away with the White jersey for the best Young Rider.
But before the racing got underway, Dowsett had to cope with the inevitable razzmatazz that surrounds such a huge event.
"The Giro is big to cyclists, but to the Italians, it's simply huge. And for all the economic problems Italy is facing, an event as big as the Giro will be a massive boost for the economy. Very few of us had ever heard of the island of Ischia (where the team time trial took place) but it's such a beautiful place." said Dowsett.
"The team presentation was much more grand than I'd ever imagined it could be and that alone highlighted the enormous appeal the race has, especially to the home fans."
Saturday's opening stage was effectively a 130km criterium in and around Naples.
"You had to be so aware of what was going on. I got caught up in two separate accidents. Fortunately, I didn't actually hit the ground myself, but my bike was wrecked in the first of those two crashes.
"But then with the peloton moving at 50kph at least, it takes a long time to get back onto the wheels and I really had to know when to make a move to get back to where I was supposed to be. I had to use the occasional lull in the racing to move from one group to another.
"My legs started to really come round with about 30kms to go, I started to feel like me and capable of the job I had to do for Fran" (Ventoso, the team's sprinter). "He then jumped onto another train, missed the crash in the last kilometre, and sprinted into sixth place.
And with Giovanni Visconti picking up the Mountains jersey as well, it was a good opening stage all round for the Movistar Pro Cycling team.
Sunday's 17.4km team time trial saw the whole Giro circus transfer to Ischia.
Movistar went into the team time trial with high expectations as they've built up a bit of a reputation in the past (they won the team time trial in last year's Vuelta a Espana) and for Dowsett and the team to be beaten by Team Sky was a bit gut wrenching considering they lost out by just nine seconds.
Dowsett said: "It was my job to do very long turns on the two flat sections and that's exactly what I did. I went well on the first two climbs but when it came to the last climb and we were down to just five riders, I had to pull everything out. The other four guys are climbers so I was really suffering just to hang on. That has to have been the hardest 17kms I've ever ridden."
But for his efforts Dowsett moved up to ninth place overall and was more than pleased with that. Before the race Dowsett had thought that if everything went well he might slip on the Young Riders jersey, and to know that he'll now be doing so, makes his efforts so far even more rewarding.
Dowsett is now 138th in the standings after four stages, 27 minutes behind the lead.
And he said: "I'm definitely going to take it day by day. In the next week I know that a few of the stages start with flat or rolling sections before the climbs start and that'll suit me. I can do my job for the team's GC riders and then sit in with the bunch as we take the climbs at the end, hanging on as much as we can!"