If his parents hadn't "abandoned" him in Canberra, Jay Vine wouldn't have even taken up cycling.
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Now he's set his sights on following fellow Canberran Michael Matthews' wheel to the Tour de France.
Vine won the five-stage Tour of the Tropics near Cairns on Sunday - his first National Road Series win.
The 23-year-old only took up cycling a few years ago when he needed a new way to get around Canberra.
Vine moved to the ACT with his parents in 2013 - his dad's work in the military bringing him here to study year 12 at Gungahlin College.
That's where he met his wife and he stayed, while his parents moved on. It meant he'd lost his ride.
"They were there for literally a year while I did high school and then left me. They abandoned me," Vine joked.
"The only reason I started riding was because I didn't have any parents to drive me around and it was cheaper to ride a bicycle."
Now he's part of the Nero Bianchi team, which he's hoping is a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
Canberra's renowned for producing world-class cyclists.
Matthews, Nathan Haas, Chloe Hosking and Gracie Elvin are just some of the Canberrans currently travelling the world as professional cyclists.
"The goal is definitely to get to the World Tour," Vine said.
"It's every cyclist's dream to race the Tour de France. Even if you're not there to win it.
"To be in that event is a cyclist's dream ... definitely a goal to get paid to ride my bike, that's for sure."
Vine only won the race after his teammate Sam Hill struggled in the fifth-and-final stage, allowing Vine to climb to the top of the podium from second.
He finished third on the final stage - a 51-lap criterium in Yungaburra - to claim the magenta jersey for the general classification win.