A knee injury sustained in July prevented Australian Robert Power from riding the Tour de l’Avenir and U23 Worlds. But the young man still has many admirers despite not being able to show once more what he can do, and is now turning his attention towards his first pro season with Orica-GreenEDGE.

"It's going well, I am back training but it's still nice and slow, not full gas as it's still early in the off-season. It's definitely going well," Power told Cyclingnews of his recovery from the injury.

Power, 20, still managed to win the Giro Valle Aosta stage race, meaning he still had a 2015 to write home about. L’Avenir was his big goal, but now he says he has learnt vital lessons about recovery. Power knew he was going pro after the Tour Down Under, but says he never let that come into his head as he rode with the U23s.

“You're not going to turn up to races and take it easy because you have a contract, I wanted to go to races and do my best in every single race, be that helping out the guys or trying to win."

Thanks to riding with the national team, Power gained vital pro race days in 2015 Down Under and at the Herald Sun Tour. He then raced abroad too, at the Tour d’Azerdbaijan, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Coppa Agostoni. This has given him a rough idea of what to expect in 2016.

"I think it's harder for longer. I think the races get a lot faster towards the end and really build up whereas in U23 racing it's really fast from the start then trying to hang on towards the end. I think for the pros it starts a little easier and then gets harder and harder and by the finish it's really fast. I think I still have a lot to learn and I haven't done a lot of pro races but I am really excited though."