Owain Doull hoping for Tour of Flanders selection in first year at Team Sky

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.

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"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."

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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."

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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.