The name of Ondřej Cink surprised a few people when Bahrain Merida announced the signing of the 25-year-old Czech last month. The mountain biker has virtually no experience on the road, but next season he will be in the WorldTour. "It’s crazy," he told Cyclingnews .

The contract for the Czech came about more or less accidentally. Through his mountainbike team Multivan-Merida, he came in contact with Brent Copeland who had also attracted Merida as a sponsor of his new road team. 

"I tried to search for some new contracts, but I didn't get feedback from any other teams. I had some good results this year, but I couldn't get anything," Cink said.

Cink will start his road career at the Tour Down Under.

"I hope it will be OK," he said. "I'm a bit nervous about it but after a few races I'm hoping it will get better and better.

"I've trained on the road before, and I did some racing only I was junior, but that was maybe eight years ago. For me it will be very difficult to adapt to the road racing. I know I have to learn everything. It will take time to learn how to move in the group, do the high speeds, and also the tactics.”

Cink has always dreamed of riding the Tour de France and so it was hard to believe that he recently gathered with with stars such as Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquim Rodríguez .However, he hopes to settle into the peloton quickly and so follow in the footsteps of former mountain bikers likePeter Sagan, Cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedal.

"I want to be a climber – I think I can be good on the long climb," he said. "I want to be a rider for the three-week races, the Grand Tours, and my dream is to ride the Tour de France. That is my goal for the future."