Rick Zabel failed to win a race in his debut season but with 11 top 10 results, the German had a remarkable first year with the pros. The German draws a positive balance and is now ready to continue his development in 2015.

Rick Zabel has had a good start to his professional career.

"Even though not everything was perfect, I draw an absolutely positive conclusion. Sometimes I could put myself into the spotlight and my results as a neo-pro are definitely not so bad," the 20-year-old told radsport-news.com, reflecting on his eleven top 10 results.

Zabel mainly excelled in the Tour of Britain where he finished in the top 10 on give stages.

"The race suited me well and I could use my strengths," said the son of former Telekom star Erik Zabel who also took three top 10 results at the Tour of Utah.

In his home country, the winner of the 2013 U23 Tour of Flanders made a name for himself when he finished sixth on May 1 at the Rund um den Finanzplatz in Frankfurt while wearing the jersey of the German national team.

But Zabel also made a contribution to the success of his teammates and apparently his presence brought good fortune. The neo-pro was part of five of the six BMC victories in stage races, like at the end of April when Cadel Evans won the Giro del Trentino, in mid-August at Tejay van Garderen's home win in the USA Pro Challenge and in October when Philippe Gilbert won Tour of Beijing. 

"To celebrate these victories with the team, was a beautiful thing," Zabel said about the success.

In his first season at BMC, he already had a very busy schedule. In January, he did his first race at the Tour Down Under and he ended the season nine months later in the Tour of Beijing. But Zabel did not complain about the burden.

"The year was definitely very exciting. I have traveled a lot and have had nice experiences," the allrounder said.

Zabel was not satisfied with his performances in the spring.

"I was not competitive enough to help my team, let alone be able to get som personal success," he admitted. And he also regretted his result at the German Championships. "I felt great that day, but then I did not do well in the sprint. The missed chance still annoys me," said Zabel, who finished 10th in the race.

For the upcoming season, he wants to further improve his performance and also want to finish on the podium which he failed to do in 2014.

"Ultimately I want to ride consistently, be at the start in the classics and get some good experience there. But my ultimate goal is to continue my development with the team," Zabel summarized.