Less than a month before the racing starts, Luis Angel Maté knows where he will kick off the 2016 season. The Cofidis rider will make his debut in the Challenge de Mallorca which will celebrate its 25th anniversary. The Balearic event has often featured on Maté’s schedule but he has missed the races the last two years.

Meanwhile, Matt continues his pre-season: "Everything is going pretty well so far. I've done some tests, I'm training very quietly and I have had no mishaps So I cannot ask for much more," he explains in a press release. In addition to the Balearic debut he has defined the rest of the program until mid-February.

Just after the Challenge, Maté will attend another major event in his home country: the return of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (February 3-7). In the following weekend will also attend the Vuelta a Murcia and Clasica de Almeria. The schedule is quite similar to last season: "I'm thinking about these first races and preparing them with care," says the Spaniard.

From here things are a bit uncertain: "The team is still finalizing the calendar, so there are still races  that are not decided although I have a sketch." The program includes a training camp in Sierra Nevada, and two World Tour races in March and April. Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and Vuelta al Pais Vasco are the candidates and he will again have "many days of competition at the highest level".

He is scheduled to return to the Ardennes to do three one-day classics: Brabantse Pihl a race in which he has always been with the best, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. This is the initial idea which is subject to change.

Maté continues to prepare for next season where he hopes to "continue making steps forward" in the progression he has shown in the past two seasons and be "an important part of the team in every race.”