Team Sky new signing Danny van Poppel targets Monument Classics

New signing Danny van Poppel hopes to develop into a potential winner of Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix with Team Sky.

The 22-year-old Dutch sprinter joined the British squad this winter on the back of a breakthrough 2015 season with Trek Factory Racing, in which he won two stages of the Tour de Wallonie and one stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

He has been signed to bolster Team Sky's Classics squad and, although he accepts he is unlikely to be challenging for victories in the biggest one-day races this year, it is a key goal for his longer-term future.

Van Poppel told Sky Sports: "The next two years are about getting experience and developing as a rider because this is the first time that I have gone 100 per cent for the Classics.

"In the future, I would like to be winning races like Milan-San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix. I really like to race and not to wait the whole day.

"That's our goal for the next years. If I am riding well enough, there's a chance that I could do those races in the next year or two years, but first I need to prove myself and I'm really looking forward to doing that."

Van Poppel was highly coveted after his impressive 2015 form but said Team Sky was the only team he was interesting in joining.

Although he has only trained with them so far, he is already confident he has made the right choice.

"Even as early as December, it felt like home and I have never had that in a team before," he added.

"I had some offers and I could have stayed with Trek, but when I got an offer from Sky, they told me that they want to make me a good rider for the Classics and sprints, so I took that opportunity. I think every rider would take that opportunity. I'm one of the lucky ones."