Tasmanian Will Clarke was among the first to be thanked when Giulio Ciccone extended his lead in the mountain classification at the Giro d'Italia.
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Thirty-four-year-old Clarke is contesting the second Grand Tour of his career and seized his moment in the 200-kilometre second stage from Bologna to Fucecchio.
The Campbell Town rider was among a break of eight which led by as much as four minutes and enabled his Trek-Segafredo teammate Ciccone to claim sufficient points to retain his classification jersey.
The Italian wasted little time passing on his gratitude via Twitter.
"The breakaway was the goal for today. I would like to thank @clarkeywilbur for the big work in the breakaway, and the rest of the team for their support," he said. "This is very emotional for me, and I hope I can arrive in my city with this jersey."
Clarke, whose previous Grand Tour was the 2017 Vuelta a Espana, finished 151st, 12:10 behind German stage winner Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and sits 166th of 173 riders overall. His efforts earned him two points in the combativity and one in the points classifications.
Clarke's fellow Tasmanian and teammate Richie Porte finished 45th in his first day's racing in six weeks.
The 34-year-old is headlining Trek-Segafredo's team at the Tour of California and sits 46th overall after the 143km opening stage beginning and ending in Sacramento.
Porte is also scheduled to contest the Criterium du Dauphine in June before leading his team at the Tour de France in July.
Meanwhile, Kayena's Catelyn Turner has been added to Cycling Australia's women's endurance European race campaign in Belgium in July.
The teenage Launceston College student will join TIS Racing teammates Anya Louw, Nicole Frain and Ruby Roseman-Gannon competing in a mixture of kermesses during the 25-day trip.