In 2015, Peter Sagan will be riding in Tinkoff-Saxo colours after several years at Cannondale. The Slovakian admits that his 2014 season never lived up to his expectations and now he finally wants to win that elusive classic.

On January 26, Peter Sagan will turn 25 and two weeks later he will start his sixth professional season at the Tour of Qatar with a new team after he left the Liquigas-Cannondale structure to join Tinkoff-Saxo. Since his first big win in a stage of the 2010 Paris-Nice, he has added 59 individal victories and several points jerseys in stage races to his palmares. In 2014 he again won the green jersey at the Tour de France but he failed to win a stage and ended the season with 'only' 7 victories, leaving him with a bittersweet taste.

Sagan is already working with Alberto Contador and his new teammate in Gran Canaria. Last weeked he assumed the role of ambassorder of a new Israeli continental team, Cycling Academy by Peter Sagan. The idea behind the project is to bring cycling to countries with very little tradition in the sport and the team has 12 riders (five Israelis, four Poles, two Slovakians and one Czech) and a solid support structure for a continental team. Marca talked to Sagan after the presentation of his new team which is led by former rider Ran Margaliot.

"I already know some of the guys from Slovakia," he said. "The Czech speaks the same language and I understand the Poles a little. We will get to know them better and I hope that this project has a future. Now the feeling is quite good because the team is well-organized, with good directors, manager, nutritionist, a good group of people.

"When I was told about the prohect in April or May, I though I could be part of it. And it was a good idea because I know how hard it is to maje the jump between the U23 and pro categories when you come from a country with few teams and races. I was fortunate to find support in Italy and get access to good equipment and train with good Italian riders. Hopefully, it will be easier for them to improve and the team will be able to attract riders that will become good professionals."

Sagan recently attended a team building camp with his new team on Mount Kilimanjaro.

"It was a very good experience," he said. "It was something different that I had never done at Cannondale. I have been hiking in the Himalayas with my old coach but this was different because we were 80 team members who climbed to almost 6000m of altitude. And just in four or five days! We had very little time to adjust to the altitude.

"Above 500m, I think we all had a crisis. On the last day, we left at 4600m at midnight and reached the summit at six o'clock. I vomited, felt wrong and had a headache."

The experience showed that Sagan has joined a team that is different from Cannondale.

"It is very different," he said. "Everything is very good and I could talk with everybody during our walks on Kilimanjaro. The impression is very good. Then we will see during the season because we still have to have three or four groups ride together. We will see how we'll organize it. I am sure that it will be good."

Sagan has not yet had the possibility to discuss his schedule but he knows where he will start his season.

"We have not talked yet," he said. "We are about to go to a training camp in the Canaries. The only thing I know is that I will start in Oman and Qatar. Then I will do the classics and I don't know if I will do Tirreno-Adriatico. On Kilimanjaro, we did not have time to talk about this, we thought about our survival.

"The goal is to win a classic. For me, the important ones are Sanremo, Flanders and Roubaix. We will discuss it with the team. I want to do the Tour and then we'll see.

"I do not have any preferred classic. I hope to win at least one."

In the past, Sagan has often lacked team support in the finales of the classics. He admits that his current team is stronger than the previous one.

"Yes, I think we have the strongest team in the world," he said.

Furthermore, Sagan will have a new coach.

"I only know that my coach is Bobby Julich," he said. "He will be the third I have had, after Paolo Slongo and Sebastian Weber this year."

Sagan admits that 2014 never lived up to his expectations.

"I expected more but I have also done many things rights. It was neither good nor bad," he said. "Clearly, it was worse than before. But 2014 was not bad. Each year you want more and more but I have one a little bit less. We will see next season. I have had my breakthrough a bit earlier and maybe some didn't want me to win. For example, I was in the top 5 ten times in the Tour. I was always close but I was unable to win. The races are like that so I ended up happy with my green jersey.

"In Sanremo, the conditions made the difference. You had to be lucky not to catch a cold or something like that. In Flanders, I was not right but the race unfolded differently than I would have expected. In Roubaix, I was sixth and I went there to get experience so I was happy. I cannot say that the season has been poor even though it was worse than the ones I had in the past."