Wout Poels has signed a three-year contract extension with Team Sky.

Poels, 28, has enjoyed a superb second season with the team, building on his encouraging 2015, and was one of the stars of the 2016 Tour de France as he helped Chris Froome to a third Grand Tour victory.

Earlier in the campaign the Dutchman won Team Sky's first Monument Classic at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and that came on the back of overall victory at the week-long Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February.

A hugely popular member of the team, Poels' eighth and most recent success in Team Sky colours came at the Tour of Britain, where he won the race's queen stage summit finish for the second year in succession.

TeamSky.com sat down with Poels to talk about his new deal, his favourite moments and what's next:

"I'm really happy. The deal is also for three years so it shows that the team have confidence in me and I'm confident in the team. That's really nice. For me it wasn't a difficult decision to stay. I've really enjoyed the last two years," he said.

"I think I've made a few steps again from the start of last year, and also this year with my win at Liege. I think I've moved on as a rider and I'm hoping to make some more steps again. The last ones are always the hardest ones - but I think I'm at an age where my strongest years are coming. So it's really nice to also be in the strongest team in the world.

For sure winning Liege was the highlight - not only during my time with Sky but in my whole career."

Poels played a key role in the 2015 and 2016 Tour de France victories.

"That was really amazing. I remember at the start of last season I wanted to go to the Tour and everyone was saying it was really hard just to make the selection. There are so many great riders on this team, so it was a big goal just to go and then to do a really good job over there. This year was the same again. It's really nice to work with Chris. It's really special that he's been able to win it three times, and to have been part of two of those is really nice. For me personally it was a really nice experience and I hope we can do it again in the future," he said.

"For sure I feel comfortable in the team, otherwise you can't be yourself. It's really nice, because sometimes from the outside people think that the team is really strict, and on this team you really want to give everything to reach the highest level. I'm just always who I am. I try to be myself and it's nice if people like that."

Poels now sets his sight on the future.

"You always have to be ambitious and I still want to improve as a rider. It would be really nice one day to have my chance at one of the Grand Tours - like at the Giro or the Vuelta. That's really a goal for me to do that, so I hope I get the chance and I can take it. But beyond that I just want to win races, and to win more races than this year. I'd like to get more nice GC results and to continue making more steps forward."

For now, Poels focuses on the final races of 2016.

"It was really cool to win the queen stage again at the Tour of Britain. It's the team's home race so it's always really enjoyable. We hoped to do something on the GC, but I think my ride on stage six showed the form is coming again, and next I really hope to be good at Il Lombardia again. That would be really nice - and try for a second Monument," he concluded.