When Greg Daniel pulled on the US national road race champion's jersey in 2016 he and his agent were well aware that it would lead to a flurry of phone calls from WorldTour team bosses hoping to sign the talented 22-year-old.
Daniel, of course, had been on the radars of many teams for some time, and he was one of the latest in a long line of talents to come off the Axeon Hagens Berman production line. However, the national win, coupled with the overall title at the Tour de Beauce, cemented his place on many WorldTour managers' shopping lists.
“After California I started talking to a few teams but I think what solidified a spot was after nationals and Beauce my agent started talking to a few teams. At the Tour of Utah, the day I broke my collarbone actually, that was when I officially knew that I was coming to Trek-Segafredo,” he told Cyclingnews.
“They’re the people you see on TV when you’re a kid. You think they won’t talk to you or they would be standoff-ish but as soon as I started saying hello, they’ve been really nice. They’re normal people and willing to help me out.”
“I know that my first race is in Argentina and then I go to Abu Dhabi. After that I don’t know but I have an apartment now with Peter Stetina in Girona so after Abu Dhabi I’ll go and stay with him. I’ll probably do a lot of the American races like Cali and Utah. I’ll be glad to do any races, even if it doesn’t suit me well and it’s a flat windy race, it’s still good to go there and learn.
Daniel Benson is the Managing Editor at Cyclingnews. Based in the UK, he coordinates the global coverage for the website. Having joined Cyclingnews in April 2008, he has covered several Tour de France, the Spring Classics, and the London Olympic Games in 2012.