Caleb Ewan will have one eye on Italy in March when he tests his classics form at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
The four ascents of the steep Challambra Crescent climb in Geelong mean Ewan is not seen as one of the favourites in Sunday's 176.6km event.
But the Australian sprint ace finished runner-up in 2019 and if the climbing specialists such as Jay Vine and Jai Hindley cannot shake him on Challambra, Ewan becomes a massive danger at the finish on the Geelong waterfront.
It is something of a preview for Ewan ahead of March 18, when he will continue his quest to win the Milan-Sanremo classic.
Ewan has also finished runner-up at one of cycling's five one-day monuments and it is a key career goal for him.
"With the form I have, I should be pretty good," he said of Sunday's race.
"The climb is short, but obviously steep and that kind of stuff suits me.
"If I'm on a good day, then it can really suit me.
"I've been second there before. It really depends how it's raced."
Ewan is dealing with an unusual scenario for his Australian races.
His Lotto Dstny team lost their WorldTour status at the end of last season, meaning they did not have an automatic invitation to Adelaide's Tour Down Under.
They opted not to send a team, meaning Ewan and Australian teammate Jarrad Drizners are racing locally this month as members of the national squad.
That lineup lacks the firepower of the WorldTour squads and Ewan was often having to fend for himself at the Santos tour in Adelaide.
But he came from a long way back to nearly win the opening stage and is pleased with his early-season form.
"I'm sprinting pretty good, climbing pretty good - it's just a bit unfortunate," he said.
"In a way it's good, but results-wise it's not good, because obviously having a stronger team is much more beneficial.
"It's been good taking me back to basics ... I can still go through the bunch pretty well and obviously I've had to do a lot more on my own and with Jarrad."
While Lotto-Dstny have lost their WorldTour status, the team is still being invited to the top races and Ewan will return to the Tour de France.
His first key target in Europe will be Milan-Sanremo and then he will tackle some of the Belgian spring classics.
"Obviously that's one I'm always targetting," he said of the Italian monument.
Ewan is coming off a challenging couple of years, marred by his crash at the 2021 Tour de France that left him with a badly broken collarbone.
He also struggled for top form through last season and while he still won races, Ewan was left off the national team for the world road championships in Wollongong.
"I never have the feeling that I have to prove anyone wrong or right or whatever," he said of this season.
"It's the same as every other year - I have my goals.
"I know there was stuff last year that was out of my control and it wasn't like I wasn't getting results because I wasn't good enough.
"Things happen. That's the sport - you have good years, you have bad years."
