After the recent announcement that Chris Horner has found a home for 2015 at US Continental team Airgas-Safeway, his team principle Chris Johnson told Cyclingnews he would target US races like the Tour of Utah in 2015.

Johnson revealed to Cyclingnews that this wasn’t the first time that he had tried to sign Horner, and he had reached out to him after he was not kept on by Trek after winning the 2013 Vuelta a Espana.

“I had reached out to Chris' agent, Baden Cooke, last winter when I saw the Trek program was not renewing his contract. Obviously Chris is still a world class athlete, so I understood when Baden said Chris' ambitions were to do the Tour de France again that summer, a race obviously well above our current level. This year, when I saw again that Chris was not signed, I reached out and really underlined how much of an impact he could have on my young riders. Chris' wife, Megan, is pregnant and expecting in January, so the timing this year just worked and I know that while Chris loves racing in Europe he was not anxious to spend months at the time there, especially with a young child at home.”

“As the opportunity came together I had a conference call with my two captains, Griffin Easter and Connor McCutcheon, for their thoughts. Our team is really a family, and while I have to make decisions for the group I try not to do anything without talking to my riders. Griffin and Connor had the same positive reaction, although I think Griffin screamed and Connor was speechless. What was really cool was their initial response was the same as Chris' in many ways. Griffin and Connor both really point out how this would make everyone on the team better. When I went up to Oregon to meet with Chris before signing the contract, he said the exact same thing.”

Johnson said that while the team is still finalizing their 2015 calendar, Horner would lead the squad at the big stage races and important events on the National Racing Calendar.

“We hope to receive an invitation to the Tour of California in May where I know Chris is motivated to go for another win. The National Championships in Chattanooga and the Tour of Utah will be focal points in our season. Philly and Bucks County are also big races for the team and always have great crowds. Despite our ambitious goals, you will also see the team at a number of regional events like the San Rafael Twilight. These types of races are important because they're a lot of fun and have great community involvement.”

“Chris will be doing most of the races with the team, although I don't think we can sneak him into U23 Nationals in Lake Tahoe. Looking at our goals for the season, we're not really chasing the NRC series, but rather focusing on a couple of key events that we know we can perform well in and that our fans want to see us race.”

When asked how he managed to secure a big name like Horner, Johnson laughed it off, saying Horner was swayed by the project the team has.

“We did not lure Chris with a big bag of money, but rather underlined what our program stood for and how a partnership with us could be mutually beneficial. Honestly, Chris seemed very excited from the start about working with the young riders, and when it became apparent that we shared a similar passion, we just figured out how to make it happen.”