Greg Daniel has spent his entire under-23 racing career under the guidance of Axel Merckx and his development teams beginning in 2013. Embarking on his final year in the development ranks with Axeon-Hagens Berman, the opportunistic rider is hoping to make an impact big enough to get noticed and signed to WorldTour team in 2017.
“The big goal would be to go WorldTour,” Daniel told Cyclingnews in a phone interview from the Axeon-Hagens Berman team training camp in California. “This is my last year on the team. Ideally, I would sign to a WorldTour team and fulfil my dream of racing in the Tour de France one day. That’s the big picture, though.
“I just want to be the best cyclist that I can be and right now I’m in the best place to develop, with the best support group I could possibly have, so I’m going to focus on doing what I can do to be the best I can be and get as far as I can in this sport.”
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Daniel, who lives in Denver, Colorado, was a product of Cannondale Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters’ initial youth program but when it came time for him to move up to their under-23 counterpart, that team had ended. Fittingly, he received an offer from Merckx to join his Bontrager development program. It was a move that ended up shaping Daniel's young career and allowed him to become one of the top up-and-coming American riders today. He stayed with Merckx’s program, through changing titles; Bissell in 2014 and Axeon in 2015 and this year, which added Hagens Berman as a co-title sponsor alongside Axeon. He said he will forever be grateful to Merckx.
“It’s amazing to work with Axel,” Daniel said. “The amount of knowledge he has and gives to us, and the help that he gives us, not only for races but for training and nutrition, it's priceless.
"It’s invaluable when you want to make it to the top level. Axel has grown up in the cycling industry, and as far as his experience goes, he has the most. For a development team, and for us as riders, he is extremely important. It’s been amazing to spend all four years on the development team and to work with Axel for all four years.
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