SCOTT Thwaites is relishing the chance to learn from one of the country's best ever cyclists following his move to Team Dimension Data.

The Burley-in-Wharfedale rider has signed up for the prestigious outfit after leaving German team Bora Argon 18.

That makes him a new team-mate of Mark Cavendish, widely regarded as the greatest road sprinter of his generation who clocked up his 30th Tour de France stage win last summer.

And Thwaites is excited about the opportunity to train with and hopefully compete alongside the Manx Missile.

He said: "I've ridden with him a bit over the last few years in world championships and raced against him in other races.

"I've got on really well with him. He’s a great leader and a really encouraging rider with a lot of experience and he’s willing to pass that on.

"He’s a great guy to be on the team with. Obviously he is so successful and that rubs on off you. Hopefully, I will learn a lot from him to get some good results myself."

The former Ermysted's pupil linked up with his new team, which features 28 riders including this year's Tour of Britain winner Steve Cummings, for the first time at a training camp in Cape Town, South Africa last month (November).

His initial focus for next year will be tackling the Classics, which take place mainly in northern France and Belgium.

Thwaites said: "The first goal is the Classics – I’ll be there with Edvald Boasson Hagen, who is a brilliant Classics rider and has had success in them.

"It will be good to work with him and hopefully share some good results."

His first Tour de Yorkshire at the end of April – which runs through Thwaites' home village – is sure to be a big personal highlight in front of his home crowd.

And the 26-year-old would also love to make his debut in the Tour de France but knows it will be hard to earn selection in his maiden year with Dimension Data.

He said: "I'd love to ride the Tour de France at some point. Obviously the team I’m in now is very strong.

"Cavendish won four stages this year so it’s difficult to get into a team where there are already established riders but I will definitely give it my best shot."

Thwaites enjoyed his first Grand Tour race last summer when he competed in the Tour of Spain. It was another significant landmark for the rider who won a 2014 Commonwealth Games road race bronze medal in Glasgow.

He said: "To get the Vuelta in my legs was a big thing for the future. To do a Grand Tour gives you a bit more strength in depth and endurance and is something that I’ve missed out in previous years."

Reflecting on his final season at Bora Argon 18, the Steeton-born rider said: "I didn’t really have any stand-out victories but I was very consistent and had a strong Classics campaign, which was my main goal.

"I managed to get on the podium in one of the semi-Classics (second in Belgian race Le Samyn). That gave me a lot of confidence that I was finally stepping up and making the split in some of the biggest races in the world.

"I achieved everything I wanted to this year – it’s given me a good foundation for 2017."

Thwaites is grateful to his former German team, who gave him his first contract at Pro Continental level in 2013 under then-sponsor name Team NetApp-Endura, for helping him become an established elite rider.

"It was great to be part of that team and gave me lots of opportunities to ride some of the biggest races in the world," he said. "I've ridden in pretty much all the classics and the Vuelta, so it was a very good stepping stone for me to showcase myself and push myself up into the highest levels of cycling.

"I leave the team on good terms. They are stepping up to world tour level and have got the world champion (Peter Sagan) on board so it’s going to be an exciting year for them.

"But by move to Dimension is a really good one. They are probably one of the best teams that I could have joined to further my career and it will be an exciting next chapter."