A golden child of Norwegian cycling, Edvald Boasson Hagen, was expected to link his future with Tinkoff-Saxo after he had confirmed in the summer that he will part his ways with Team Sky with the end of this season. The 27-year old always smiling blonde eventually decided to make entirely different move, and even though it might have appeared as a step backwards at first, he insists that joining MTN-Qhubeka will provide him with a range of opportunities he would never receive while racing in a sleek black outfit.

“You think that it is a bit of a step down but it’s not really a step down. It’s a professional bike team and it's about winning races,” he told Cyclingnews. “For me, I think it is better when there is no specific GC rider, it is more about getting in breakaways and going for stage wins. I think it will suit me better.”

The South African Pro Continental team was one of the most active players on the transfer market this season, collecting – reportedly fully consciously – riders who once had been regarded exceptionally talented but somehow lost their momentum in previous outfits in likes of Boasson Hagen, Matthew Goss or Tyler Farrar. If you add powerful Theo Bos and Reinardt Janse van Rensberg, also joining MTN-Qhubeka for 2015, the squad which presented their highly distinctive Juventus-inspired kit last week have to grow into a role of strong competitor for both one day classics and Grand Tour stages.

The 27-year old Norwegian agrees with such assessment, claiming that collecting several equally strong fast finishers may be a good approach as long as they will learn to cooperate well with each other. He also pointed out that his new team reminds him of HTC-Highroad, the squad in which Boasson Hagen revealed his fantastic potential and achieved career’s best results.

“We are pretty similar but we are also different,” he told Cyclingnews at the team’s training camp in South Africa. “If it comes to a sprint we just have to be honest and decide who to sprint for. We’ll make a really good train and I don’t think that many other teams will be as fast as us, but of course we need to prove it.

“It really looks like Highroad, it is not just one big GC rider so all different riders can win. I hope that we can have something similar to that.”

After no less then five seasons of riding in the Team Sky outfit, changing an environment is a relatively new experience for the Norwegian cyclist, but he was pleased with a way he was welcomed by fellow MTN-Qhubeka riders.

“It’s a little bit special when you don’t really know anyone. I know some people from sitting in the peloton but not really that much. There are a lot of guys in the same position but we have blended well into the group and the other guys have welcomed us into the group.”

Boasson Hagen experienced the worst season since turning professional this year, failing to claim a single victory in races and evidently lacking a motivation to race on a bike. Reluctant to reveal particular reasons for such situation, the 27-year old Norwegian once again explained why a new setup at MTN-Qhubeka – lacking a prominent Grand Tour contender – should turn out beneficial for finding his momentum again.

“I don’t want to blame anyone,” he said. “The results have (in the past) been really good but they weren’t so good in the last years. I hope to get back there at the top level.”

“I think that I will come back stronger next year,” he said. “The goal has always been to win Roubaix we will see if that is next year or another year. I also hope to get to the Tour de France with the team and to try and win stages there.”