Jasper Stuyven may only be 22 but many people are already touting him as a future star if the Classics, and he has a fast finish, resulting in 12 top ten placings in 2014, eight of which came in the WorldTour. And he is only a neo-pro. He spoke to Café Roubaix about his year.

“I am pretty happy with my season. I wasn’t scheduled to do all the big Classics, but because the team was pretty happy about my form and the way I knew the roads, I was able to do them all. Then, at the end of the season, I got the chance to start in my first Grand Tour and delivered some impressive results. So although I did not win, I gained experience and I had a peak form in the World Tour races, where is very difficult to win.”

His strong Cobbled Classics campaign, with a highlight being 55th in Roubaix, a race he won as a junior, resulted in him being penciled into ride his debut Grand Tour, where he found another skill, sprinting well against the world’s best.

“I was nervous to start in my first Grand Tour and because we went there without a big GC leader, I think it made it possible for me to take it “easy”, without too much pressure from the team. The most difficult thing was to get through the days I didn’t feel good, mentally and physically, but so I learned that I am recovering pretty well. Of course, there were some good and bad days, but if someone would have told me before the start that I’ll finish eight times in the top 10, as a neo-pro, I would have signed for this immediately!”

“I did not train on my sprinting skills at all in the past season, although maybe I should have done it after the Classics. I just trained really hard and well preparing for the Vuelta and without having a “real” sprinter of Trek Factory Racing there, I was able to go for my own results and I didn’t have to do some lead-out work.”

Stuyven is already aware of how he will start his year in 2015, where he will build up to once again be at his best to help captain Fabian Cancellara in the Classics.

“Normally, I will start my season in the Tour of Qatar again. Then, in the first part of the season, I will be all in for the Classics.”

Stuyven is making those few weeks in March and April his big goal for 2015 and he says he is not interested in the Tour de France, something that may sound surprising for a young rider with as much talent as he, has to say.

“I am not yet really interested in riding the Tour at this moment. For sure, I want to ride it someday, but no kind of pressure on me in this regard. I just want to perform really well in the Spring Classics and give my best also in all the other races that I will do. Of course, it would be nice if I could say at the end of 2015 that I’ve won an important race.”