At just 22, Erik Baska is already a race winner in his first pro year and Peter Sagan’s prodigy at Tinkoff is ready to learn about the Classics from his friend and mentor.

“It was perfect but for me, it was a really hard experience. We tried to get the maximum for Peter but, for me as a rider, it was really hard,” he told Cyclingnews about helping Sagan win Gent-Wevelgem. “I really enjoy it, but it’s not easy to ride here in Belgium. I want to try and get more experience, and I want to learn a lot about it.”

It is not just Sagan who he has looking out for him, but the Velits twins Martin and Peter, who ride for Etixx-QuickStep and BMC respectively. It was their uncle, Tibor, who coached a young Baska.

“He started to train me, and he asked me if I wanted to start road cycling,” he explained. “I said yes but, at first, I did road cycling as training for mountain biking then it was more and more and then I stopped with mountain biking.”

Baska has been learning slowly and says he really enjoys learning from Sagan and helping him win races whenever possible.

“It’s something special because there is only one Peter and, I don’t know how to say it, but it’s really nice to ride with him in the team. When I was in my first races with him in Gent, it was pretty nice. I want to gain experience from him and help him a lot.”