After a strong performance at the Worlds at home in America, where he came 12th, Alex Howes has told Procycling magazine that he wants a strong season from himself and his Cannondale-Garmin team in 2016, even thought hey have lost names like Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin.

“I think the ethos has stayed the same but the personality of the team has changed. A few people are quite quick to point the finger at some of the Italians who came in but I think they were a great addition to what we had. The reality was that we threw out a lot of older guys and we were the youngest team in the WorldTour by a couple of years. We had a lot of kids out there who had never seen a pro bike race. That meant guys like me and Nathan Haas were the old hands and I've only been a pro for four years. That put more strain on guys like Dan Martin and Ryder Hesjedal to lead the team when what they should have been doing was going out there and getting results. It was a year of growth for a lot of guys on the team and we'll see how things change next year. We'll still be a young team and we'll have another transitional year but I think a lot of the guys are looking to turn the page and they're excited. I've seen a lot of motivation from the team for 2016 and I'm looking to throw down in what's going to be an Olympic year.”

However, Howes was sick a lot in 2015 and hopes to avoid that in 2016. He was really unhappy with his first part of this season and then he went into a period of major goals that he couldn’t contest thanks to his health.

“The first half of my season, to be honest, was disappointing. I had a lot of general life stress going on with moving apartment, a persistent knee injury and I kept on getting sick. I had a nasty cyst in my sinuses so every time I felt like I was getting moving again I'd be sick. By the time that cleared up it was the second half of the season and from there it went pretty well. I went to the Vuelta and that started well but then I crashed and had to limp through. It came together for me in the end and I was able to regain some form ahead of the Worlds. I guess if you're going to have a pretty crappy season and it's going to turn around for just one day, the Worlds is the day to have that good ride.”