Bobridge breaks away from comfort zone In pursuit: After leaving the track Jack Bobridge has high hopes of finishing the Giro. Jack Bobridge didn't baulk when he spoke this week about his motivation to show he is still serious about his career since leaving the "comfort zone" of his former Australian team. However, despite his sincerity, Bobridge must have known the time would come for him to back his words with action for his new Blanco team. And it did for Bobridge, whose promising career risked being derailed last June when he was involved in a drink-driving incident in Spain before the London Olympic Games. In the Giro d'Italia on Thursday, he and fellow Australian Cameron Wurf (Cannondale) starred in a two-man breakaway in the 169-kilometre sixth stage from Mola di Bari to Margherita di Savoia in the region of Puglia deep in the south of Italy. To escape after 15km under burning sun and on flat dusty roads - which led to Briton Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) winning in a sprint - says much about Bobridge, who was willing (with Wurf) to defy the odds until they were caught with 36.5km to go. No matter that the 23-year-old Bobridge eventually finished 202nd of the 204 finishers at 7mins 19secs. The South Australian's performance reminded his Dutch team they had not recruited a fallen star "who might have been," but one who tripped up in the infancy of his career and aims to prove he has learned from his errors, and has embraced the challenge of joining a foreign team, where outlooks to training, racing and all that lies between, can differ. Bobridge explained the significance of his effort in Thursday's crash-marred stage. It's good for the head. I haven't been in a break for a long time. It's good to get back out and feel the front of the race ... to get into it. It couldn't have been better than to do it with another Aussie too. While Bobridge couldn't recall when he last led a road race before Thursday, he still recalls his suffering in last year's Giro. Thursday was in stark contrast to his showing in that Giro. It ended with Bobridge stopping due to a foot injury early in the 220km 20th and second-last stage from Caldes to the summit of the Stelvio Pass after he spent most of the previous days at the rear of the peloton, if not just adrift and chasing. This year, in his third start, Bobridge - a two-time Olympian accustomed in his early career to winning world and national titles - has two goals. One is to help Dutch contender Robert Gesink finish as high as possible, the other is to finish in Brescia on May 26. "Last year was pretty disappointing, having to pull out on stage 20 [with one day to go]," Bobridge said. This year, I will hopefully get to the finish ... But along the way I have a lot of work to do, and help to give Robert and the boys. If I can do that I'll then drag myself to the finish line hopefully. Bobridge credits much of his positive state of mind and focus to his switch from Orica-GreenEDGE, and a system he knew so well, to Blanco. "I have always been in an Australian program and with Australian guys and here [at Blanco] it is completely foreign and they do a lot of things differently," Bobridge said. It has taken me a few months to get used to how they do things. At an Australian team, you are always going to be comfortable. Maybe sometimes it can get too comfortable and you have to step out of your comfort zone. Coming here [to Blanco] has definitely put me out of my comfort zone. I have done a lot of work behind the scenes. I know it's not going to take two months after doing so much track last year. They are willing to work with me. But I think the end of this year and next year will be when I start getting [the benefit] of that base on the road. To work with a foreign team has been the best thing I have done so far for my career. They are really good working with their athletes from the bottom up. I'm not saying the Aussies don't do that, but I've found this team really good with the structure they give you and the race program and training. Hence, Bobridge feels better prepared than ever to claim his first grand tour finish. Although, he says a factor has been his decision to focus solely on the road, with no early track-racing commitments such as the world titles, which have limited his build-up for his past two Giro starts. As Bobridge said of his prospects: "It'll be interesting to see how I go. I'll be a lot better. I should last a lot longer than in previous times I have started. Even better, if his aggressive riding with Wurf on Thursday - which he dubbed a "scenic ride down the coast" - was an indication, he is tracking well.