Last weekend, One Pro Cycling received a Pro Continental licence. It is a logical step for the British team. Team owner Matt Prior explained his ambitious programme to Cyclingnews. He hopes to be vying for wild cards forsome of the WorldTour races.

"You can’t overplay the significance of how big it is to get confirmation of the licence because we made it clear that we wanted to step up and we made the signings of staff and riders", Prior said. "Everything goes up, from the number of coaches and directors you need to athletes. You’re also looking at a global race programme, not just a domestic one, so everything goes up five-fold. You can’t really compare it to Continental cycling. We feel that this is a really professional cycling team and brand. We said from the beginning how ambitious we are and this is certainly a huge step in the right direction but it’s merely a step. This isn’t the end game and we’ve got to keep learning and building before we can reach out ultimate ambition."

He added that it is a good choice to race at the Continental level in order to build the basis for a pro team. "Another thing is that we didn’t come in straight away at Pro Continental level. In hindsight, that was one of the best decisions we’ve made because it’s been such a steep learning curve, even racing at Continental level. We made sure we had the foundations and building blocks in place."

One of the big signings is the recruitement of Matthew Goss. Prior thinks that the Australian rider still has the hunger for victories. "I absolutely believe that he does. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been signed by us. It’s all well and good looking at what he did a few years ago but it’s about where you’re at now and that’s one of the first questions I asked him. Ultimately, he’s the one on the bike and who has to do it and over the last few months we’ve had a number of conversations and it struck me that he’s now ready. He’s been through a lot in cycling, some things fantastic, some of them not so good, but 28 is still young and he’s now in a place where he still has the ability and talent because that doesn’t just leave you."

Prior makes it clear that three-week races will be the main goal for 2017. "We’d like to think that we could be at a couple of WorldTour races. Those are the races we’re targeting and I want this team to be put in tough places and races because that’s where you learn. We want to be in WorldTour and HC races. When it comes to Grand Tours, that’s an interesting one. You can tell from the things I’ve said in the last few months that I want us to be in a Grand Tour soon but what I don’t want to do is make too big of a jump too quickly. I want us to be ready for the commitments we make but for 2017, no shadow of a doubt, we’ll be targeting Grand Tours."