Kristian Sbaragli is glad be a teammate of Mark Cavendish. The 25-year-old rider has told Cyclingnews that he has a chance to learn from the former World Champion. Last year, he won a stage at the Vuelta a Espana ahead of John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Alpecin) and José Joaquim Rojas (Movistar Team).
"He's still young but he's got a long career behind him. For sure he is more experienced than us, he's won everything in cycling and we are excited to learn as much as possible from him and all the rest of the new guys that have come in. He's probably more of a pure sprinter compared to me and Youcef but he can teach us a lot. If we can really work together then we can achieve even better results than we did last year. That's the main goal for everybody", the Italian told.
This winter, Dimension-Data was very active on the transfer market. The addition of Cavendish and eight others, including Mark Renshaw, Bernhard Eisel and Nathan Haas, is just the latest in a raft of changes to the South African registered outfit. "It's completely different but the main part, the project, is still there, which is the main thing. We actually race for a reason not just to get good results but for Qhubeka. Everybody in the team knows that the more results that we get then the more visibility we bring to the project. Our team is not only about victories but it is clear that if you win then everyone will see your jersey and will see the word Qhubeka and maybe they will google it if they don't know what it means."
"I think that three years ago, nobody in Europe knew what Qhubeka meant and now everyone who follows cycling knows it. To arrive here we had to change a lot and we are happy to be with this project for the next years."
Sbaragli is expected to be at the start of the Giro d'Italia and targets the points jersey. "I think that my main goal will be the Giro d'Italia and I will try to get one stage there and then try to win the points jersey at the end of the three weeks," said Sbaragli. "I don't know if I'm ready but I'd like to do two Grand Tours and make another step with my body. I think we have a really good team for the Tour de France so I will try to get some results elsewhere, especially as I'm Italian, and for me it is important. The Tour de France is the most important race but for me to win one stage in the Giro d'Italia would be a dream."
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