Riccardo Zoidl impressed the entire cycling world in 2013 when the 25-year-old Austrian won the UCI Europe Tour, the Tour of Austria and several smaller races. Those results earned him a contract with Trek and he is looking forward to the Giro and some personal success in week-long stage races in his first year at WorldTour level.

Riccardo Zoidl started the season as a lesser-known rider on the Austrian Team Gourmetfein - Simplon but as 2013 is coming to an end, the 25-year-old has escaped the anonymity. A fantastic season delivered him wins in 3 2.2 races, a victory in the one-day race Croatia-Slovenia, a national road race title and a breakthrough win against the world's best riders in the Tour of Austria.

Those results were enough to give him the overall win in the UCI Europe Tour and of course he attracted the interest of several of cycling's major teams. In the end, it was the new Trek team that will replace Radioshack in the professional peloton that secured his services in the coming season.

In 2014 Trek will replace Radioshack's traditional focus on the stage races with a dedicated emphasis on the classics and Fabian Cancellara. However, the team remains ambitious in the multi-day events and Zoidl has been signed to bolster their future prospects in that kind of races.

As a solid time trialist and splendid climber, Zoidl has all the characteristics to do well in stage races but he knows that he faces a steep learning curve in his first season at the professional level. However, he hopes that he will be able to prove his worth in some of the week-long stage races that suit his versatile characteristics.

"I think the one week stage races," he said in an interview with Cyclingmole about his preferred races. "I am good at climbing and in the TT so I think that suits me the most."

While Zoidl will look to achieve his results in the shorter stage races, the Giro d'Italia is also on his provisional schedule.

"First of all it is not 100% that I will go to the Giro but it may very well happen," he said. "If this is the case I hope to survive the Giro because it is something new for me. I don’t know yet what the team’s plans are but we will see.

"I have to be honest here I haven’t had a look at the course yet," he added. "But anyway, I think it will be too hard for me to aim for the GC."

Zoidl has already had the chance to meet his new teammates and his first impressions please him.

"It’s a dream come true for me," he said. "We’ve already had two camps and I have to say I really feel very well and welcome in this team. It is a really professional team and I have no regrets that I chose this team."

Zoidl won several races in 2013 but the one that really made the headlines was his surprise win in the Tour of Austria. In his national tour, he beat established stars like Kevin Seeldraeyers, Mathias Frank, Rafal Majka, Chris Anker Sørensen, Alexander Dyachenko and Fabio Aru to be crowned winner of the biggest race on his calendar.

"It really was a great honour to beat these guys because I was almost a nobody before the tour and I could beat them, so it was a great feeling," he said.

However, he knows that he cannot expect to have the same kind of success in 2014 and firmly keeps both feet on the ground.

"First of all I want to get in this professional business and want to learn as much as possible," he said. Hopefully I can do some good results, especially in the one-week stage races."