Tyler Butterfield dreams of becoming the first Bermudian to compete in the Tour de France ? but he knows he must first get through two years of painfully hard slog if he wants to make it there.

The former Olympic triathlete is back at home for a short holiday having just begun his professional career with the young American team SlipStream Sports at the beginning of the year ? following a productive couple of seasons riding with a top amateur team in France.

Butterfield met his new team-mates and manager Jonathan Vaughters ? a former US Postal member who rode with the great Lance Armstrong ? for the first time at a late-January training camp in California. The now-retired Vaughters established the team specifically to recruit the best young cyclists in North America, with the aim of developing their talents to the extent that entry into the 2009 Tour de France ? a three-and-a-half-week stage race regarded as the most prestigious and arduous on the planet ? would be entirely realistic.

Butterfield is well aware of how lucky he is to be a member of such an ambitious outfit.

?The atmosphere is fantastic,? he said. ?Everybody is there to be the best cyclist they can be. It?s a very young, talented team ? the average age is around 22 ? and it?s an ideal environment in which to improve.

?Jonathan (Vaughters) knows that we have a lot of work to do until we are good enough and strong enough to race in the Tour de France, but that?s certainly something we?re all working towards.

Of course it would be a special thing to be able to accomplish, but it?s a ways off yet and I?m just concentrating right now on doing the best I can do for the team. ?I want to be able to show that I?m a strong rider and also a smart rider ? there are a lot of tactics involved in team cycling and it?s not just about how fit you are or how hard you work.

?So I?ve really got to prove myself this year and hopefully if everything falls into place I?ll do enough to keep everybody happy and for them to keep me on.?

His first assignment for his new team was at the three-day Tour of the Bahamas last week, where he placed fifth overall and the team second ? though Butterfield was not too bothered about the results at this early stage of the season.

He is heading off to Spain at the end of the next week, where he will be based for at least three months training and competing on a continent regarded as the mecca of the sport.

?It?s an exciting time for me,? he admitted. ?I was lucky in the sense that I was with one of the top amateur teams in France (Vendee U) so the adjustment from amateur to professional has not been as difficult as I thought it might be.

?We train a lot more that?s for sure and we have access to all the latest kit and top of the range bikes. (Butterfield was given four new bikes in California when he arrived to meet the team) So from that aspect there?s more support and you are given all the tools you need to get the most out of yourself.