Young Latvian Toms Skujiņš had a solid first season in the Cannondale-Drapac jersey. In 2016, he won a stage at the Tour of California and battled with the best in the Tour of Flanders, in spite of a crash that forced him to change a shoe.

Skujins is still trying to figure out what kind of rider he is. In general, he tested himself in a lot of different races.

“I’m always up for a challenge,” he tells Velonews. “I would have loved to do more stage racing, I had success there.”

The 25-year-old rider epitomizes the spirit of a truly international team, with riders coming from all over the world.

“We’re not traditional cyclists,” he says. “There are some characters on the team. And a guy from Latvia, which has two million people total, won’t be a traditional bike rider. I’m not a traditional bike rider.”

Next year, Skujins will continue to discover his potential and hopes to do the classics, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour of Britain.

“It’s hilly, hard, has bad weather, and only teams of six,” he says about the latter race. “That makes for exciting racing, attacking racing.”