"I want to really perform in a Grand Tour" - Sivakov determined to prove his worth in 2023

Now 25 years old, INEOS Grenadiers' Pavel Sivakov realises 2023 needs to be a career-defining year if the former Vuelta a Burgos winner is to fulfil his immense potential.

"As far as the objectives are concerned, the first of them will be to start the season very well," the French rider of Russian origin reveals. "Normally, I should have some opportunities on the first races. Depending on that, the team and I will make decisions. That's how it works."

"I have to show myself, and prove that I have the potential to be a protected rider in the team . In any case, that's my ambition, I'm not going to hide it. I really want to be doing another 'step up' this year," Sivakov continues, outlining his plan for success. "Winning the Vuelta a Burgos in 2022 was cool. But I have bigger ambitions than that. I want to really perform in a Grand Tour."

2022 was indeed a successful year for Sivakov, something he is keen to build on further in the upcoming year. "I feel like I turned a corner last year, that's for sure. But it's not necessarily thanks to the Tour de Burgos," he says. "It's personally, in everyday life, in my approach to training, that I feel that physically I've really turned a corner."