And he wouldn't have it any other way.

The 21-year-old is halfway through his first season as a full professional road racer, with the Russion Katusha team.

Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, at Sunday's Tommy Simpson Memorial Race, he said: "It's going really well this season."

"I'm halfway through, I've done the Tour of Italy and came third at the second stage of the Giro d'Italia."

"At the start of the year I just wanted to get a ride in that race, so to come third was brilliant."

"I'm really enjoying it."

The Beijing Olympian wanted to stay busy this season, and has got his wish.

"This year I have done just under the amount of races I did last year, in half the time," he said.

Next on the calendar for Swift is the British Championships in Wales, an event he would have been aiming to win, had it not been for a dental operation last week.

He told the Guardian: "I've just had my wisdom teeth out."

"I really wanted to go there and perform, but I'm just going to go and take it as it comes, I'm not hoping for too much."

Swift, enjoying his first visit home since January, presented the prizes to the winners of the Tommy Simpson races, and said he was honoured to be a special guest.

"It's nice to have some recognition, especially as it's my home village team promoting the races," he said.

With half a season under his belt as a Katusha rider, Swift could not be happier with the way they are looking after him.

"They're really good," he said.

"They've been really supportive in my first year."

And with the support of his team, Swift hopes to stand tallest on the podium in the near future.

He added: "I would like to have my first professional win, but from the start of the season I've just wanted to race as much as possible."