Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing) has set his sights on a podium finish at the Tour de France and insists his best years are ahead of him.
The 28-year-old, who joined Trek for the 2015 season after seven years with one team in its various formats - Rabobank, Blanco and Belkin.
And he is set to enjoy an enhanced leadership role at his new team.
Having secured top-ten finishes in both of the last two Tours, the Dutchman is confident he has the ability to perform as Trek's sole leader.
“I like a little bit of pressure. If you look at my results, at my victories and my podium spots I’ve had a lot of good results in the WorldTour races than the smaller races,” he said.
“I need a bit of pressure to perform.”
Known for his aggressive racing, Mollema's style has brought him success in the past, including a stage victory at the 2013 Vuelta a España.
And he has no plans to rein in his love of an attack while riding for Trek.
“I think the key is to make an extra step in my level, do some more training, and maybe also in some races to take a risk in the final with an attack instead of waiting until the finish line.”
“Maybe that’s something I didn’t do enough last year.”
Mollema is confident that he can overcome the time trial issues which saw him lose over seven minutes on the penultimate stage of the 2014 Tour de France, a day which saw him drop three places on the general classification.
“It was difficult last year in the Tour, I don’t try to think about that too much anymore.”
“In the training camp we already did the bike fitting on the time trial bike, then after we went to Trek in Valencia to look at aerodynamics. I have the bike at home already, I’ve been training on the time trial bike two times per week already.
“My time trial isn’t too bad, only last year we had some problems with that.”
Mollema will begin his season at the Vuelta Mallorca before tackling Tirreno-Adriatico and the Ardennes Classics.