The Albury cyclist was involved in the biggest crash of his career on the Great Ocean Road during the opening stage of the event in January.

He’s now ready to make his mark at the Tour of Korea, starting next Wednesday.

“I think there was so many things going on in that point in time,” Featonby said.

“I set myself a pretty tough goal at Sun Tour and everything seemed to go wrong.

“Illness (bronchitis) on top of that wouldn’t shake, it was four months of being sick and it seemed like there was no end in sight.

“I was really frustrated and it was playing a lot on my mental health, which showed in my physical performance.

“Being able to shake that now and get back on top of things is really good.”

Despite making his return to competitive racing a fortnight ago in the Grafton to Inverell – Australia’s longest one-day race, Featonby admitted scars remain from the Sun Tour.

“I’m still in pain actually, I can’t do a full squat without feeling it,” he said.

“I think the thing with bike riding is not if you’re going to crash, it’s when, it’s just part of the sport.

“I lost two fingernails when I landed from the crash and in all my wedding photos I had this black nail, so that was definitely one scar that stuck with me.

“One of my knees is really painful, it’s fine to ride, but a few things remind me I was pretty banged up from it.

“There was no nerves getting back on the bike, I think it was mentally whether I wanted to do it.”

Featonby had plenty of success in Korea in his triathlon career, including his best ever World Cup result 

“I’m excited to see what that’s like with cycling,” he said.

“It’s a five-day tour and most days about 200 kilometres with mixed terrain.

“There’s three teams in the Tour of Italy that are competing, so the quality of the field is awesome.”