Wednesday 6 January 2016 14:28, UK
Mark Cavendish has described joining Team Dimension Data as a "no-brainer" and tipped them to become one of the leading squads in professional cycling within the next few years.
Cavendish moved to the South African outfit, formerly known as MTN-Qhubeka, on a three-year deal on January 1 after three successful seasons with Etixx - Quick-Step.
Dimension Data have previously raced in cycling's second and third tiers but were promoted to the top-tier UCI WorldTour for 2016 and will consequently receive automatic entries to all of the sport's biggest races.
They made their debut at the Tour de France last year on a wildcard invite and took full advantage by winning a stage through Steve Cummings and wearing the polka dot jersey for four days through Daniel Teklehaimanot.
Cavendish admitted those performances helped convince him to join.
He said: "Absolutely. To see that they went out, they wanted to be featuring in races heavily, they went there with a strong race programme, and because of the results they got, they were massively respected in the peloton.
"It was a no-brainer that it was a team I would want to speak to. It was a great-looking place from the outside, and from the inside, I can say, so far, my thoughts were right about it.
"I truly believe the team has the talent, the team has the ambition, and with the right kind of growth trajectory that it is taking right now and will continue to take, I think it will be one of the biggest teams in the peloton in the next few years."
Cavendish has set himself the treble target of wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, winning an Olympic gold medal and claiming a second world road race title in 2016.
The World Championships take place in Doha, Qatar, on a course that should end in a sprint finish, and Cavendish is relishing the prospect of getting his hands back on the rainbow jersey he wore in 2011 and 2012.
He added: "It would be amazing. I'm honoured that I could do that jersey proud. I believe I did do it proud; I won a lot of races that year. To pull that on again would be something quite tremendous. I'm looking forward to it.
"We haven't had the build-up like we had leading up to Copenhagen [the 2011 worlds], but I believe we have got the strength in depth in Great Britain that we don't need to really focus on building a two-year programme any more.
"We have got some of the best bike riders in the world that come together and race together, especially in the conditions over there in Qatar."
