With his confidence significantly boosted by runner-up finish behind rather unattainable Marcel Kittel in Sunday's People's Choice Classic criterium, Juan Jose Lobato looks forward to opening three sprinters-friendly stages of the Santos Tour Down Under, reportedly being in the best possible shape.

The Movistar sprinter was very pleased with his performance in the evening criterium held in Adelaide on Sunday, but insisted that wrong tactical decision hampered his chances for a victory. Nonetheless, being defeated only by the arguably the strongest fast finisher in the professional peloton ensured Lobato that he has got this pre-season preparations right and filled with additional motivation for upcoming sprinters-friendly stages Down Under.

"I felt I had good strength and good sensations, although perhaps I misjudged the decisive moment with 500 meters to go when at the corner there was a lurch and I was forced to ride in the slipstream of the Lotto riders," Lobato said after the race, according to Cyclingnews. "Then I decided to try to launch the sprint from far out to see if I could do a good job."

"This result gives confidence and shows that I have been training well during the off-season," he said. "I think I'm in the best shape I could be, the team is confident in me and I in them, and I'm very motivated to do well in the first three stages of the race."

While the 26-year old Spaniard will be allowed to chase his own success in the opening part of the season's first WorldTour event, then he will have to embrace a role of a domestique again and support second-tier Movistar leaders.

"I will work for Gorka [Izaguirre] and Ruben [Fernández] in the tougher stages but for for now I will fight in those early sprints for good results," he added.