New Team Sky recruit Owain Doull says that he is hoping to earn a ride in the Tour of Flanders through good performances in early season races.
The 23-year-old said that he was aiming to use the Tour Down Under, his first race as a full time Team Sky rider, to establish his place in the squad and get a good block of early season training.
>>> Owain Doull on Team Sky: 'This pressure is nothing like the Olympic team pursuit'
"I'm looking forward to getting my first proper race with Sky under my belt and doing my job and trying to put a good performance in for the team," Doull told BBC Radio Wales.
"It's going to be good to get a good one under my belt quite early. It's a nice way of doing it as well, getting away from the cold and the winter of Cardiff and escaping to the sun and getting a consistent block of work done."
Watch: Owain Doull and Ed Clancy on life off the track at Rio 2016
Doull hopes that impressing in early season races will put him in consideration for a ride at the Tour of Flanders, saying that he is looking to follow a similar path to fellow Welsh riders Luke Rowe and Geraint Thomas.
"Speaking to people like Luke and Geraint, they say it's a really good way to start your year.
"You have to come out to Australia quite early, do a couple of weeks of training then obviously straight into the first WorldTour race of the year."
>>> 'It's likegoing from primary to high school': Owain Doull prepares to step up for his Team Sky debut
The Tour Down Under will be Doull's first race as a full time professional for Team Sky having raced as a stagiaire at Paris-Tours the Abu Dhabi Tour at the end of last season.
He will go into the race as a support rider for Geraint Thomas and Sergio Henao in the search for overall victory, while also looking after sprinter Danny Van Poppel in the flat stages.
