Juanjo Lobato (1988) goes into his third season at the Movistar Team with focus on hard one-day races and one-week stage races. The Andalusian wants to take another step forward in his career and his goal is to "be on the podium in a WorldTour classic". He has his eyes on Milan-San Remo, but is "not obsessed."

Lobato could not attend the training camp of the Movistar Team in November as he achieved his first victory with the birth of his son. "Since then, I've been able to train normally. I'm training well and I have spent enough time at home. I'm more or less as I was in 2015," he tells BiciCiclismo .

His debut will be at the Tour Down Under where he won a stage last year. He and his teammates will leave for Australia on January 10. "I feel quite well and why not start like last year? Winning is hard, always, but at least I hope to get be close. I also know the race and the stage I won last year is one I like."

Tour Down Under, Dubai Tour, Clasica de Almerica, Vuelta a Andalucia, Paris-Nice, Milan-San Remo, Ghent-Wevelgem and Tour of Flanders make up the spring program. "The first goal is to be good in the classics, especially San Remo, Ghent, Flanders. They are well suited to my characteristics, especially the former two. I'd prefer San Remo over Ghent. In theory I should be good and be at one hundred percent from Paris-Nice. Last year I was very good in San Remo but I think I was blocked by the pressure," he says.

Lobato showed his potential in 2014 when he was fourth, but last year he failed to be with the best. "I want to be on the podium in a WorldTour classic and if I could, I would choose Sanremo. Winning? I hope to that someday, but I am not obsessed," he says. In De Ronde, he will support Alejandro Valverde. "It always goes well until I crash. Let's see what happens on the cobbles this year," he jokes. He does not forget the Ruta del Sol, the home race. "I have always red-circkled the Vuelta a Andalucia," he says. Last year he beat John Degenkolb twice in the Spanish event.

It will be a 2016 without grand tours in his program. "Without any changes, I will focus on one-day and one-week races. I'm happy with the schedule. That's what the team has deicded and I will go for it one hundred percent," he says. Last year he was close to a stage win in the Giro d'Italia, but then abandoned with a broken collarbone. "In the Giro I felt quite good and showed that I can do well over three weeks. I want to go back to the grand tours. All three have something special, but I would choose to return to the Tour," he says.

For the second part of the year, he wants to "do the same calendar as last year year: Hamburg, Plouay, Britain, train at altitude and go to the Worlds if I am selected. It is a course that suits me quite well. The Olympics will be for climbers."