Given he is a proven master of targeting races and delivering big wins, second place stings Simon Gerrans.
The Australian cycling star is feeling a mix of frustration and satisfaction after finishing runner-up in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race, his second near-miss this month.
Gerrans was able to catch compatriot Cameron Meyer on the line at Geelong, but sprinter Nikias Arndt was quicker and the German pulled off a narrow win in Sunday's race.
Three weeks ago, first-year pro Miles Scotson caught the lead group off guard with a daring solo attack at the road nationals and Gerrans again had to settle for second.
Gerrans usually scores at least one big win in January.
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But he suffered a setback with illness over the Christmas-New Year period.
While his second place at the nationals showed he had bounced back well, Gerrans was then off the pace at the Tour Down Under.
Once it was clear he was not in contention to defend his title in Adelaide, the four-time Tour champion concentrated on his road captain responsibilities for Orica-Scott.
The team still shone, with sprinter Caleb Ewan scoring four wins and Esteban Chaves finishing runner-up.
But as Gerrans noted after Sunday's race, his season so far feels like close, but no cigar.
"We've had some really satisfying results, but we've missed out on a couple of big ones, too," he said.
"It's all encouraging results - I'm not going to make any excuses, I was really targeting this period.
"It's satisfying to come up into good shape even with a couple of setbacks along the way, but it is frustrating running second place.
"They were both every so close and it feels like in these races second is the worst place to finish."
Gerrans' last race of the Australian summer before heading overseas will be the Jayco Herald Sun Tour from Wednesday.
Thursday's summit finish at Falls Creek means Chaves is their best chance of dethroning defending champion and three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome.
"It's looking good for next week - Esteban will be our leader for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour with the big summit finish at Falls Creek," Gerrans said.
"He's shown he's in great shape, so I think we're going to have a very, very competitive team."
