Matej Mohoric hasn’t had the best two seasons at Cannondale-Garmin. The first ever back-to-back Junior and U23 World Road Race champion went pro at 19 and struggled to adapt to WorldTour level. For 2016, he has moved to Lampre-Merida, to continue racing at the top but at a more relaxed and experienced team.

“I think 2015 was a good year for me. I didn’t get any great results yet, but I am definitely one step closer to becoming a good cyclist. I gained a lot of experience and became physically stronger. I improved a lot, and my body weight has gone a little bit down with absolutely no loss of power. Also, now I cope better with the distance of the races and I can train more intense and for longer periods,” Mohoric told Café Roubaix.

The Slovenian said that while his new team is different to his old one, he cant say for sure which team suits him best just now. But he did say that riding for an Italian team is mentality different for him, as he already speaks Italian quite well and lives in the country.

Lampre-Merida expect Mohoric to start showing his obvious talent on a more frequent level and to show himself in the finale of races.

“They expect me to do my best and perform well in the races I’ll go to. I have my personal goals that are more related to small things in training, not so much to the results I score in the races. I will deal with the results once I will be fit enough to really be there in a race’s finale.”

For his 2016 calendar, Mohoric wants to ride Liege-Bastogne-Liege and finish a Grand Tour after he got sick and abandoned the Vuelta this year in the first week.

“I like Liège–Bastogne–Liège. I would also like to try Strade Bianche and do a Grand Tour again, finishing it this time. Last season showed me that tough one-day races are best suited to my characteristics, but I think I could do well also in short stage races.”