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Evain-les-Bains - South African John-Lee Augustyn is confident of overcoming pre-race nerves as he lines up alongside Tour de France champion Alberto Contador this week - albeit with more modest aims.
So far in his young career Augustyn is probably best known for crashing over the side of a mountain during Stage 16 of his Tour de France debut with Barloworld in 2008.
But although images of him desperately trying to scramble back up the Col de la Bonette proved a TV and internet hit worldwide, Augustyn hopes to eventually eclipse that incident with achievements on the bike.
While he hinted at a possible future as a Tour de France contender, the 23-year-old has more pressing concerns at the Dauphine Criterium stage race this week - recapturing form after a nightmare six-month period in which inexplicable knee pains added to the frustration of having pins removed from the hip he broke three years ago.
It's no surprise he is happy with the chance of racing the Tour of Spain in September instead of next month's Tour de France.
"After the (Beijing) Olympics I had a load of bad luck," Augustyn said after completing the opening prologue of the Dauphine on Saturday.
"Three years ago I broke my hip, and I had problems with it so I had to get the pins taken out, then I had problems with my knee.
"It meant I couldn't start training seriously again until November, then I had problems with my knee again. I don't know if it was a problem with my shoes or my cleats (on bottom of shoes), but I couldn't get any power out.
"Now I'm back on my feet. It's my first race back and I am a bit nervous and don't know what to expect, but I'm sure it will all go okay.
"There's no pressure on me, I just want to help the team and see how I get on."
Augustyn is believed to have the potential to become a strong stage race rider, although even before finishing 167 places and 57sec behind prologue winner Contador on Sunday, he said he must improve his "weak" time trialling.
And although Team Sky are putting all their big guns behind Bradley Wiggins after his fourth place finish in 2009 - Augustyn says it's for the best.
"I'm in a new team and they're going (to the Tour) with the guys with the most experience, obviously to try and do better," he added.
"It's a bit of a setback and obviously a lot of friends and family were wondering why I'm not doing the Tour, but I'm not too bothered.
"I'm still young, and I still need to work on my weaknesses, namely my time trialling. If you want to be a Tour contender, you have to be a good time triallist."
Although happy to be back in the fold, there is a slight tinge of regret at missing history being made back home.
"I would have liked to be in South Africa, but I'll be watching the Soccer World Cup on TV whenever I get the chance," said Augustyn, who admits he even has a substitute team should South Africa crash out.
"My girlfriend is Italian, so if they don't make it I'll be supporting Italy."
