Retiring Sky sports director Dan Frost appreciates the fact that the British team has signed Nicolas Roche who will fit well into the team in severa, aspects. However, the team doesn't need his knowledge about Alberto Contador as Chris Froome already knows his Spanish rival very well.

Nicolas Roche is a new Team Sky rider in 2015. In that way, Roche follows in Dan Frost's footsteps as both were part of Bjarne Riis' Tinkoff-Saxo team in 2013.

In 2014 Frost joined Team Sky as a sports director. In 2015 the Dane has decided to retire from the professional cycling world but he still has an intimate knowledge about the British team which announced the signing of Roche in September. Frost and Roche know each other from the time at Tinkoff-Saxo and the Dane thinks that Roche will fit well into the team both professionally and personally.

"He is a good rider for the team. He is a versatile rider who fights for the team. Furthermore, he is a really nice guy. Of course that is also very important for every team," Dan Frost tells CyclingQuotes.com

Roche's father Stephen has stated that one of the reasons for Nicolas' decision to travel from Russia to Great Britain was the fact that he felt that he had little room in the Russian team. After the signings of Ivan Basso, Robert Kiserlovski and Peter Sagan for the 2015 season, Roche could not be guaranteed spots on grand tour teams and any personal chances.

At Sky, Roche will get a role as a key domestique for three-week races but he will also have the opportunity to chase personal results. The Irishman has proved his abilities in the past, mainly in the 2013 Vuelta where he won a stage and finished fifth overall.

"To me, he has his strength as a domestique in the grand tours. He has also made an impact by himself, for example in last year's Vuelta. Apart from that, he can do well in shorter stage races. This year he won the Route du Sud. He is a rider who can win smaller stage races himself," Frost says before comparing him to one of his future teammates.

"He is really much like Geraint Thomas even though Thomas is of course a lot younger," Frost says, referring to the 28-year-old all-rounder who won the Bayern Rundfahrt and the Commonwealth Games road race in 2014.

Many have suggested that Sky have signed Nicolas Roche in an attempt to get more knowledge about his former captain Alberto Contador who is a key rival for Chris Froome. However, that's not how Frost sees it. In fact, the two captains know each other really well and Nicolas Roche won't be able to add much information.

"Despite the knowledge you have, I think you always have to race in your own way. Team Sky knows how they will set up their race and I think Tinkoff-Saxo have the same approach," Frost adds.

"I think Contador and Froome respect each other so much and have so much knowledge about each other that they won't make any big mistakes in the races," Frost says.

It is still unknown where Contador and Froome will be competing in 2015. Contador will do the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France but Froome's schedule has not been determined yet. At one point he considered skipping the Tour to focus on the Giro and the Vuelta but recent reports suggest that he will be focusing on the Tour-Vuelta double.

Frost refused to comment on Froome's race schedule.