James Piccoli would have competed in his first Grand Tour this week in his debut season at the Israeli Startup Nation if not for the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and his victory on stage 3 of the Zwift Tour for All was proof that he takes his job seriously.

CyclingNews spoke with the Canadian after the five-stage virtual race ended as a rare May snow fell outside his door.

Piccoli was just a little too fast in the last kilometer of stage 5 of the Alpes du Zwift and found the race on his home trainer to be as intense or more so than the real thing. He finished sixth behind stage 3 winner Louis Mainz.

"I haven't trained with a heart rate monitor out there, so I don't have a reference, but I got five beats per minute higher than what I thought was my maximum heart rate," he jokes.

"It was quite a shock, but Zwift is great for keeping me motivated and I had a lot of fun. [One was connected to the TV running Zwift, and the other for the TV's live video feed. Says Piccoli, "My neighbor walks his dog every day, peeks in, sees me, and must have thought I was crazy."

If opening the door fully when it's snowing wasn't enough to question his sanity, Piccoli last week, as part of a fundraiser to support organizations on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, raced the World Tour race, the famous GP de Montreal, Mont= Royale climb, which he rode 100 times over the course of 14 hours.

His group raised over $20,000, but the ride itself also brought a lot of support to Piccoli.

"We started with the idea of a 12-hour workday to honor the medical profession, but we received so many donations that we decided to work a little overtime so the doctors and nurses would do better; it took 14 hours and 40 minutes, the longest ride I've ever done."

The ride also raised more than $20,000 for Piccoli.

Piccoli parked his car packed with food and drinks at the top of the climb and took a break every 10-15 laps, his mother brought cookies and some friends brought pizza.

"After a harsh winter, it didn't hurt that it was the best weather in Montreal. Families, kids, and recreational cyclists were all out on their bikes. Families, kids, recreational cyclists, everyone was out on their bikes. There were a lot of people who knew about this race and there was a lot of interest, so it went by very quickly."

The charity ride was also a way to promote himself to the Israel Startup Nation team, whom he had just gotten to know during the short season, which was also a contract year.

Piccoli, 28, came to the sport relatively late, almost quitting before being picked up by the Elevate-KHS team in 2017, but impressed with his focus, drive, and power numbers.

Last year, second places in the Tour de Taiwan, Joe Martin Stage Race, Tour de Bose, and Tour of Utah, plus a win over Oscar Sevilla in the Tour of the Gila, paved the way for his first World Tour entry in the Israeli Startup Nation Tour of Gila.

He started the season with the Tour Down Under, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, and the Herald Sun Tour before deciding to compete in the Giro d'Italia, but the UCI's compressed World Tour, which runs from August to November, remains uncertain and and his race program is up in the air.

"I usually get better as the year goes on," says Piccoli, "and I got off to a decent start in Australia and set my sights on the Volta a Catalunya, Pais Vasco, and the Giro.

Now he is waiting for teams to adjust their triple and quadruple program schedules before deciding which races to target.

"There are a lot of things that need to be worked out and a lot of overlap. We understand that, and we're prepared regardless. We are lucky in Canada to be able to run outside.

Piccoli, who is on only a one-year contract, also hopes to impress with his dedication and build his reputation as a team player. The team's performance director, Paulo Saldanha, is another Canadian who runs Power Watts Training Studio in Montreal.

Producing solid power numbers is not his problem, says Piccoli, he needs World Tour-level racing experience. Until the race resumes, he will stay in touch with his teammates and be on his best behavior.

"I think it's not just about race results, it's about being a team player and doing the best you can to integrate into the team," he said. Israel Startup Nation is a really good fit for me. It will be tough to negotiate a contract, but if the season goes as planned, I would like to renew it. I'm still motivated and ready to go racing."