Aberasturi - I want to challenge Cavendish

Euskaltel brought in a bunch of fast finishers over the winter in a quest to bolster a department of the team that traditionally has been an Achilles heel.

The score board thus far in 2013 shows that both of the team's wins have come in mass sprint finishes, yet the vast majority of Igor González de Galdeano's sprinters have flattered to deceive.

Juan José Lobato has shown promise by taking one of those triumphs and placing consistently in medium-sized bunch gallops, but German pair Steffen Radochla and André Schulze are yet to crack the top ten. Jon Aberasturi, a true Fundación Euskadi graduate having passed through the ranks of both Naturgas Energía and Orbea, has similarly failed to grab results.

The 24-year-old has mainly been used as a domestique and lead-out man in his maiden year at WorldTour level and counts 17th on the Volta a Catalunya's second stage as his best result to date. With years on his side, though, he's still hopeful of one day challenging the greats of the discipline.

"Yes (I'm a pure sprinter), and my sprint is what I'm working the most on", he tells Pablo Martín Palermo at Ciclismo Internacional. "To fight the best sprinters like Cavendish and Greipel for the wins is what I aspire to do some day. If that's possible or not only time will tell".

Aberasturi has taken part in races ranging from the Tour Down Under to the Handzame Classic so far, and the native of Álava says there's a notable difference in racing at WorldTour level as compared to Continental.

"I have had the chance to do a bit of everything so far", he says. "For example, I started the year at the Tour Down Under, a WorldTour race, and, yes, I did notice the difference in pace when the stages were nearing conclusion... Then again, in races like the Trofeo Mallorca and Castilla y León, I didn't come across anything new as I already know those. I've also done some classics, and I've come to realize they're different type of races. It's full gas from start to end".

Aberasturi, who rates Alejandro Valverde and Óscar Freire as his biggest idols, will next up take the start of the Vuelta a Madrid before taking on the Vuelta a Asturias, Bayern Rundfahrt, Tour de Suisse of the Tour of Luxembourg, and then the national championships.

The team was just before Paris-Roubaix rocked by the news of Russian recruit Alexander Serebryakov testing positive for EPO, making a lacklustre season for the team up to that point that much worse.

According to Aberasturi, Serebryakov committed an "irreparable" mistake.

"It's a shame a team-mate took shortcuts that harm us all, knowing that what he did was an irreparable mistake", he states. "We were all surprised, as sacrifice is what's make the difference in the cycling of today, and he took the easy road.

"I met him in a couple of the classics I did, and he appeared to be a normal guy, with a lot of life in him, and a very strong cyclist".

After a slow start to the season, Euskaltel appear to be on the right way after solid showings in both the Vuelta a Castilla y León and the Tour de Romandie.

The new sprinter on the block believes his current employer will stay in the sport for the foreseeable future.

"Yeah, Euskaltel will be around for a while. Right now Samuel Sánchez is the one who's leading the charge, but behind him there are young riders and Nieve and Antón who can take up the mantle", he concludes.