Andrew Talansky hasn’t had much luck since he took his biggest result when he won the 2014 Dauphine. The American sat down with Cyclingnews to talk about another annus horriblis and what he thinks he can do to prevent 2016 following in the same path 2015 did.

“I don’t think it’s a secret to say that I definitely wasn’t satisfied personally at all with the results last year. Every year in this sport is different. You face different challenges. Even if you do the same training and try to replicate things, there are always other variables that come into play.”

He was relatively pleased with his performance in the Tour de France though, where he finished eleventh on GC and second on the Pra-Loup stages. He also won the American TT.

“I think, all things considered, being able to end up 11th at the Tour and almost get the stage win I’ve been looking for, it wasn’t what I would have liked, but considering how I went into it, I was pleased. But with the season as a whole I was definitely not satisfied.”

As a result, Talansky says that he and the team may change a few things for next season. Talasnky will not have as much pressure in the Grand Tours, as Pierre Rolland and Rigoberto Uran will also have chances at Cannondale-Garmin.

“I’m going to change a few things. I spoke with the team in Aspen, and we dove into it a little more. Like I said, years like last year highlight some things, whereas years where you maybe win something you forget about the negatives of the season. Years like last year, when you’re not winning much and not racing or riding the way you’d like to, make it pretty easy to pinpoint things you’d like to change.”

Just like the American, his team didn’t have the best year in 2015. Talansky says the 2016 roster is more stable and the riders that came to the team from the Cannondale merger are much more settled.

“I would say it’s kind of like my personal year: you can’t hide it, it wasn’t the best year for the team last year. But one thing I would say is that you kept seeing the team try to fight back. You saw it with Davide (Formolo) winning a stage of the Giro; with me at nationals; you had Ben King at Criterium International; you had Ryder (Hesjedal) clawing his way back up to fifth (in the Giro).”

“I think (the 2016 roster) has a lot more stability. There are a lot of new guys that from what I’ve seen at Aspen are all very, very motivated, very excited, very talented riders who I think can contribute immediately at the WorldTour level.”

Talansky spoke about the effect the arrivals of Uran and Rolland will have on him for 2016, saying the effect will be nothing bu positive.

“For me, personally, it doesn’t have any effect except a positive one on what we’ll be able to accomplish when we go to Grand Tours. For my race program, it doesn’t really change anything at all. But I think for the team as a whole that’s where you see what great effect it’s going to have.”

“We have a guy who can potentially win the Giro in Rigoberto Uran. We have a team where legitimately at every one-week race throughout the spring, and especially with Uran at some of the one-days as well, we can get results in all of those. It won’t be a matter of choosing do we ride Paris-Nice or Tirreno? No, you do both.”

“You’ve seen what Pierre Rolland can do that the Tour every year, and I think he can even improve on that. When you get to Grand Tours, and you have 10 people in the world left on a climb, there're not many teams that have two guys, and that’s kind of the position we’re putting ourselves in. That’s only to your benefit at that point in the race.”

One change Talansky is making for 2016 is that he will start racing earlier. His two options were Tour de San Luis or Tour Down Under. The latter is now a full-bloodied contest, so the American has chosen to begin his season at the more relaxed Argentinean race.

“I’ll be in (Tour de) San Luis in Argentina. I’ll do San Luis, then (Volta a) Algarve and then into Paris-Nice. I’m pretty excited about that. In general, I’ve done a similar schedule every year of my pro career almost, and we’ve seen which races suit me the most. I’ve gone back to races to try them a second time if we think maybe it could suit me. I think we’ve determined what works pretty well now.”