Wilco Kelderman showed his potential in 2014 when he finished seventh on GC in a brutal Giro d’Italia and then finished in the top 15 of the Vuelta despite suffering from fatigue. As a Dutchman on a Dutch team, naturally his focus for 2015 is the Tour de France, which begins in Utrecht.

“It’s really near my home so it’s a really big motivation,” Kelderman said. “I think it’s a good opening time trial for me, because it’s a bit longer than a prologue. Last year, the time trials were good for me but I think I can make more progress with the bike and material.”

He has already faced up to the likes of Froome and Contador in France, and he performed well, taking fourth on GC in the Dauphine, just 43 seconds behind Andrew Talanksy and 16 behind Contador. He was 3:42 clear of Chris Froome on the GC too, which will give him confidence ahead of next year’s Tour.

“The route looks OK for me, although the first week with the cobblestone stages and the Mur de Huy is going to be really important. I just like to ride the French races so I’m really looking forward to riding the Tour in the coming year,” said Kelderman, who was reticent to put a number on what would constitute a successful finish in Paris.

“I hope to begin really good at the Tour and then I hope to go for top 15, top 10. That’s going to be my goal, as high up as possible, but it’s hard to say which place. Anything can happen, especially at the Tour with the crashes and everything, but I am going for a high classification.”

He will reach the Tour via Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and the Ardennes Classics. He won’t race too much after a tough Vuelta, where he was fatigued after too much racing and doesn’t want that to happen again.

“It was hard to do the two Grand Tours in one year. I went to an altitude camp and then the Tour of Utah but it was a little bit too soon before the Vuelta and I couldn’t rest so much and I wasn’t really good in the Vuelta,” he admitted. “In the end, my legs were really bad and I didn’t recover anymore. But I’m still young and that was probably a factor too.”

Before Belkin became Team LottoNL-Jumbo, Kelderman’s future at the team was in doubt, but he decided to stay at the team and persevere, as he says he is comfortable at the team.

“Of course, we looked to other teams and there was a lot of interest but I feel good on this team and the first choice was to stay with Belkin and now with Lotto-Jumbo,” he said. “Of course it was necessary to talk to different teams but my first choice was always Team Lotto.”

“No one expected that Belkin would stop so it was a little bit of a surprise for the whole team when that happened. Then during the Tour, it was announced that there would be a new sponsor and the situation was already a lot better. I think we are a really special team, especially in the Netherlands.”

The 23 year old will lead the team more, as only he and Robert Gesink are regular GC leaders, and Laurens Ten Dam will ride to help them in 2015, while trying to help himself. After Bauke Mollema’s departure, Kelderman says he already feels more of a leader.

“In a lot of races I am one of the leaders and outside of the races I’m one of the bigger guys on the team. I’m more important now, I feel it already.”