But come Saturday the pace will be turned up as he races in his maiden Victorian Road Series tour - 12 weeks after the injuries.

The 18-year-old, who is balancing cycling with year 12 studies at Emmanuel College, will feature in the Tour of South West's elite men's C grade - his first big step up in competitive road cycling.

"It's a great opportunity having a big event such as the Tour of South West in Warrnambool with no travelling involved is always a bonus," the Port Fairy Cycling Club member said of the new challenge.

"It's definitely a big step up from what I have been doing previously compared to the local club racing and being a two-day, three-stage tour.

"I'm quite looking forward to the step up in racing against some stronger riders and a much larger field than I'm used to."

Racing starts on Saturday morning with a 61-kilometre ride around Wangoom before the 15.3km individual time-trial in the afternoon.

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The next day he will get the chance to ride on the streets of his hometown when the criterium takes place around Warrnambool Cemetery.

"I'm going to be aiming for the road race and criterium as they are probably my strong points," Worrall said of where he hopes to gain time back on his experienced counterparts.

"In the time-trial I'll be a bit behind the eight-ball as I don't have the equipment that a lot of the other guys will have. I'll do my best in all three stages and hopefully get some good results."

Worrall, who is hoping to study business at university in Adelaide next year, is not the only south-west rider to feature in this year's tour.

Fellow Port Fairy members Jay Phillpotts (masters B grade), Peter Greig (masters C grade) and Anne Waylor (women's C grade) will race in other grades.

Warrnambool Cycling Club's Luke Maguire (masters C grade) and Wayne Collins (masters B grade) are also set to feature in the tour.

National Road Series' women's team's, Gusto StepFWD KOM, will use the Tour of South West as preparation for next week's Tour of Great South Coast, which starts on Tuesday in Mount Gambier.

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