New signing Anton Schiffer (26) immediately seizes his opportunity at Visma | Lease a Bike

Those who kept an eye on Schiffer in the yellow-and-black kit on Corkscrew Road — the decisive climb on day two — saw that he put in a relatively strong climb, well behind the UAE duo of Jay Vine and Jhonatan Narváez. From a position at the back of the peloton, he still rode up impressively in tenth place. “Anton rode a good climb, but he was just too far back at the decisive moment. The block of UAE Team Emirates-XRG was simply too strong,” said team director Jesper Morkov.

The Dane looked — before it was announced that stage five would be shortened due to the heat — ahead to the final weekend Down Under. “We’re going to support Anton Schiffer as strongly as possible as a team. He deserves that after what he has already shown this week,” he said. Schiffer — with whom we already spoke extensively about his transfer during the Deutschland Tour — has therefore made a good impression in his first appearance for the team.

On his new team’s website, Schiffer was introduced in detail ahead of the Tour Down Under. “To be honest, I didn’t think this would happen anymore. I’m 26, and there aren’t many guys who make that step at this age,” said the German, who came from the continental BIKE Aid team, where he caught the eye in Greece and Romania.

“I come from another sport, so in that sense I’m still young,” said the former triathlete. “I’m sure there is a lot of room for improvement, since most things are new to me. What I would really like to learn is to race smarter and to race with specific goals. It sounds fun to enter a race with a leader who can win and support him as best as possible.”

Schiffer sees himself excelling as a puncher but hopes to develop more broadly. “As a general classification rider you have to perform at the top of your ability every day. In the past, I’ve proven that I can ride a good overall in smaller stage races, but that’s not comparable to races at the highest level yet.”

“Generally speaking, the longer a race lasts, the better I get. I always recover well and can strike at the moments when others start to get tired,” says the man who lives for his profession. “I enjoy the life of a top athlete. Healthy eating, a lot of training and good recovery: those are all things that don’t cost me any effort at all. I think that is a strength.”