It seems that everything has fallen into right places for Maxime Bouet eventually, as the 28-year old Frenchman finally bounces back from a huge amount of bad luck to thrive in a new environment and mix it up with the best at Tour Down Under.

"I haven't won but when you look at the top ten or so, I've left some great champions behind me: Michael Rogers, Richie Porte, Domenico Pozzovivo, Luis Leon Sanchez," the Frenchman said after the race, according to Cyclingnews. "I'm not one of the leaders on the roster of Etixx-QuickStep, and yet, I'm up there with the best and it’s not from a breakaway."

A bad luck shadowed Bouet whole last season and a string or crashes and injuries he suffered almost had no end, but Etixx-Quick Step acknowledged an unquestionable talent of the 28-year old climber and offered him a two-year contract – among several other propositions he received from top tier squads.

"It's been a relief to sign for two years with Etixx-QuickStep," he told Cyclingnews in Adelaide. "I had other offers from very nice teams and AG2R-La Mondiale was keen to keep me on board too, but this is exactly the change I needed. I chose this one because among the proposals, this was the team with the least climbers.

The French climber openly admits that joining the Belgian WorldTour team most likely marks an opening of a new chapter in his professional career and despite initial difficulties in communication he thrives in a new, cycling environment.

"My longtime coach Benoît Nave, who also trains Simon Gerrans and Mark Renshaw, understood that I was going under someone new to me, Koen Pelgrim, who also looks after (world champion Michal) Kwiatkowski. I'm fully committed to my new team. I had heard so many things from French riders joining a foreign team that I wanted to try that too and so far it's up to my expectation in terms of organization, atmosphere and approach of the racing. I was never very good at school and I've been learning English 30 minutes a day since I signed my contract, and also Italian and some basic words of Flemish if I need to call for a bike change or something like that.

"This is probably a new start to my career," Bouet, 28, added. "I hope to have put all my bad luck behind. I want to prove that Patrick Lefévère has made the right choice in hiring me. I love the passion the staff has for cycling. It's incredible. The cycling culture in Belgium is enormous and I'm the same. If I happen to be at home on a Sunday and there's a U15 race nearby, I go and watch it and I coach two kids as well."

Following his highly promising showing in the stage 3, Bouet has great chances of finishing his first event as the Etixx-Quick Step rider inside the top 10 in the general classification. Even though the French climber is assigned to support Rigoberto Uran in the Giro d'Italia later this year, just as Wout Poels did last season, he is happy to work for his new teams and believes in his own chances to prove his talent.

"When I talked to [sports director Davide] Bramati about my possible arrival at Etixx-QuickStep, he told me I'd have to work for Rigoberto Uran at the Giro and I'm happy to do that," Bouet concluded.