Stevie Williams looked over to his team media officer and proceeded to play the straightest of bats.
The Israel-Premier Tech cyclist was fronting the press after taking the lead at the Tour Down Under, thanks to an outstanding ride in Saturday's penultimate stage.
The 27-year-old Welshman finished second to young Scot Oscar Onley on the iconic Willunga Hill climb, putting them level on overall time.
Going into Sunday's final stage, another summit finish at Mt Lofty, Williams has the race lead on countback thanks to his third place in stage two.
All this racing action is exactly where the team would love the attention to be fixed.
But the couple of extra security staff hovering around their team vehicles at each stage start reflect sobering global realities.
A small group of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied at the start of the men's road race in Buninyong earlier this month, because Williams' teammate Simon Clarke was in the race.
There were Palestinian flags in the crowd at last week's pre-Tour street race in Adelaide, after speculation that hundreds of protesters might attend.
When Williams was asked on Saturday what his overall lead meant to his team, given the obvious international background, he steered clear of geopolitics.
"It's really nice - it's always important to start the season on the front foot, whether it's winning races or racing in the right way," he said.
"We put ourselves about in a positive way and we've always been on the front foot. We've been aggressive, so doing that has paid dividends.
"It (security at the start) is just part of business as usual."
And with that, the press scrum quickly ended.
