Matthew Busche, USA Road Race Champion, has spoken about his surprise at not being renewed by Trek-Segafredo this offseason and having to step down a level to ride with UnitedHealthcare.

“It came a little bit as a surprise [that I wasn’t renewed],” Busche told VeloNews ahead the Tour of Qatar’s fourth stage. “It’s neither here nor there now. It is what it is, I can’t change it. I’m moving on and focusing on what I can control, which is here and the future.”

He says he is happy with his new team, who can offer him leadership in some big stage races, along with Daniel Jaramillo and Janez Brajkovic.

“That time with Trek definitely changed me, but this team is good and sometimes change is good. I’m looking forward to this. I should definitely have more individual opportunities in this team and I’m going to try to seize that as best as possible,” Busche said.”

“Obviously, this race in Qatar is not my cup of tea, but already in Oman I should be protected, and obviously in the U.S. at the stage races. I’ll take the opportunities that are given to me. I can set some clear goals for myself. Clearly for our team, the Tour of California, Tour of Utah are the big races. I’ll try to perform in the lead-up races as well. Any race is an opportunity.”

Busche says he is hoping to get back to WorldTour level, but that he isn’t going to focus on it too much and will let results do the talking.

“I’ll keep doing everything I can to get back, but at the same time, I’m not going to focus on it because if you focus on that it just takes away from everything else,” Busche added. “I can only control what I can control, and that’s me. Hopefully by doing so, by working on my performances, that will hopefully come, that I’ll get back in the WorldTour.”