After impressing at the 2013 and 2014 Spanish Road Race champs and the 2014 Volta ao Algarve, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA decided to offer Eduard Prades a contract for 2015. They had their faith repaid tenfold last season and Prades hopes to repeat his wins of 2015 this year.

Prades was fifth in the first hard uphill finish in Andalucia last year, before taking seventh in Valverde’s first stage win at Catalunya, Pades’ first WorldTour race. After that, more top tens followed in Madrid and Turkey, with a surprise Mountains Jersey coming in the former. He was part of a dominant team performance at the Tour de Beauce before starring at the Volta a Portugal, winning his first pro race on stage eight. He was strong in Limousin but Caja Rural left him off their Vuelta team. Prades responded in the best way possible, winning Coppa Sabatini before taking fifth and sixth in Giro dell’Emilia and GP Bruno Beghelli respectively to finish a great season.

Things have started much more slowly in 2016, with just three top tens to date, but Prades is just starting to come into the races where he can use his great punch to full effect.

The 28 year old, who specialises in one-day races and hard sprints, took some time out of his schedule to speak to CyclingQuotes about the last 18 months, where he has ridden the best races of his career and taken some really nice results in the process.

“I had good results in Vuelta Valencia and some classic races, and I have been in a good condition in the others tours, but these were not good for my characteristics and I worked for my teammates,” Prades said when CyclingQuotes asked how his 2016 season had been up until now.

Prades will ride a local stage race in Portugal before heading to some hard one-day races in France and the Boucles de Mayenne stage race.

“My next tour is Cova da Beira in Portugal and after Pluméléc, L’Aulne and Boucles de la Mayénne in France.”

Prades revealed that he wants to improve in his second part of the season, winning some races and also assisting teammates to victory. He also revealed why he has started a little slower in 2016: he wants to be in peak shape for the Vuelta a Espana, provided he makes the team.

“I want to bring more quality to the team getting new victories or helping my teammates to get them. And, obviously, I would like to make the nine of La Vuelta a España.”

Prades spoke about how he made the jump in 2015 from racing smaller Continental races to being so successful in events at Pro Continental and even WorldTour level.

“I adapted very fast to the new category, it is only one gear more, or maybe two when there are WorldTour races. Therefore, the biggest difference is the higher speed when there are enough WorldTour teams and nobody loses the wheel of the main group.”

Prades says his savage uphill sprint is natural and he doesn’t work on it too much. He hoped that CyclingQuotes readers can see him sprint in the upcoming races, provided there are stages that suit him.

“I didn’t work so much to improve the sprint, I just sprint in some workouts. Until now I have not my opportunity, but I hope that in the upcoming races there are uphill sprint like Coppa Sabatini.”