Three of Tasmania's top cyclists have returned to competition this week.
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Richie Porte and Cameron Wurf have embarked on their European campaigns while regular training partner Will Clarke makes a long-awaited return from serious injury in Asia.
Porte has begun his first race since leaving Australia as the Tour Down Under champion.
The Launceston 35-year-old is leading his Trek-Segafredo team in the Tour Cycliste International du Var et des Alpes Maritimes, just along the Mediterranean coastline from his base in Monaco. Porte came 13th on the first of three stages, a 187-kilometre leg from Le Cannet to Grasse.
"Great to be back racing on familiar roads, 13th for me in the end," he Tweeted. "Team @TrekSegafredo were great keeping me safe all day."
The 176km second stage from Pégomas tackles the Col d'Eze climb before the race finishes on Sunday between La Londe Le Mont and Faron (136km).
Porte posted a sun-drenched picture from one of his favourite training rides on social media this week and said: "I'm excited to kick things off in Europe and carry over the good form that I showed in Australia."
After the tour, he expects to undergo a traditional lead-in to what will be his 10th Tour de France in June as he chases a third Paris-Nice victory (March 8), followed by another at Volta a Catalunya (March 23) in Spain, Tour de Romandie (April 28) in Switzerland and back to France for the Critérium du Dauphiné (May 31).
Also delighted to be back in competition this week is Porte's teammate Clarke, who will contest the seven-stage UAE Tour from Sunday.
The Campbell Town 34-year-old suffered major injuries in a huge crash at the end of the Tour of Belgium last June.
Although he returned to competition a couple of months later, he failed to finish two one-day races either side of the English Channel and spent the Australian summer regaining full fitness for his fourth straight year in the World Tour.
Clarke returned to Europe from Tasmania earlier this week and bases himself in the Spanish city of Girona.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Portugal, Wurf is returning to European competition for the first time in six years at the Volta ao Algarve, which was won by Porte in 2012.
Since last racing with Cannondale in 2014, the Hobart-born former Olympic rower has been focused on ironman triathlons.
However, he has been training with Porte's former team, now called INEOS, and returned to cycling's elite level after signing a contract with the British outfit earlier this year.
The 36-year-old's first race back was the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Victoria in February and he is now alongside Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas in the five-stage Portuguese tour.
Wurf came 118th on the 202km third stage from Faro to Tavira to sit 146th overall.
Two-time winner Michal Kwiatkowski is the leading INEOS rider in 14th place.