Claiming two different state titles with victories in Bridport, Greens Beach and Coles Bay, the 38-year-old is well on the way to emulating the success of occasional training partners Jake Birtwhistle and Cameron Wurf.

By finishing fifth and the first non-professional at the Hobart half ironman in February (4:08:41), Clarke has qualified for age world championships to be held in Taupo, New Zealand, in December and said he will use that to decide how far he wants to take the sport.

"I will see how I go," he said. "If I'm going well, I will probably try and look to go pro the following year. If I can keep chipping away and improve my running, I think I can be competitive.

"I've been building up to this for a bit and thought I'd got to an age where it was now or never. I did not want to get to 40 and wish I had tried it. At least I'm giving it a go."

Like Birtwhistle and Wurf, Clarke excelled in one of the three triathlon disciplines before making the transition.

Half of his 12-year career as a pro cyclist was at the elite WorldTour level, riding alongside the likes of Fabian Cancellara, Andy Schleck, Stuart O'Grady, Vincenzo Niballi and fellow Tasmanian Richie Porte while contesting five classics and two Grand Tours.

But even before that, the talented Campbell Town sportsman had excelled at triathlon's other requirements, competing at inter-school and state swimming carnivals for Launceston Grammar while also becoming 800-metre state champion and a national under-20 bronze medallist.

He said he was just "dabbling" in triathlon but his run of results - including Saturday's state long-course championships at Coles Bay - have convinced him to take it more seriously.

"I did one triathlon back in 2007 for fun but never did one again. Last year I thought I'd give Coles Bay a go and really enjoyed that so this year I thought I'd give it another go and train for it a bit more.

"I really enjoyed competing again. I probably missed that after stopping cycling. Plus it was nice to get back to winning stuff again.

"I think there is an advantage in having been a cyclist for so long because it is an aerobic sport and that does transfer over.

"I was a good swimmer at school but pretty much stopped when I left. I was not a gun swimmer by any means but if you pick up the technique when you're young, your body still remembers what to do so it is easier to pick it up again.

"I was a decent runner but probably realised my times were not quite at the elite level. I had a few injuries which is why I turned my attention to cycling and enjoyed that so much that I never went back."

Living in Cressy and working as a life guard for Northern Midlands Council, Clarke is justifiably proud of his career in the cut-throat world of pro cycling.

"Looking back, I had some good results - I won stages in the Tour Down Under, Herald-Sun Tour and some races in Europe and went to Grand Tours and world champs. It would have been nice to have done a Tour de France but that was probably the only race I missed out on.

"You look back and think maybe you could have done things better but I think I had a decent career and made a living out of cycling for 10 years so I can't complain.

"It's been good getting back into the bike riding and getting the miles up again."

With a strong pedigree in triathlon and each of its disciplines, Clarke is well aware of the state's impressive record in the sport and has strong opinions behind the reasons.

"I've known Jake for a while as I've been training with him and Richie on the Scottsdale loop, and Wurfy even longer through cycling - we were even teammates for a year (Champion Systems in 2012).

"I think in Tasmania everyone has to be quite determined and self-motivated. Because we are isolated you need to make the most of your opportunities. Plus it's a bit colder here in the winter so you need to be a bit tougher."