“I’m super excited by the parcours,” Nathan said after touching down in France for Thursday’s first stage. 

“There are lots of good days for me and my teammates, and I’m excited to give it a crack. There are a few long days with punchy climbs and technical finishes, and they suit me and the boys pretty well, so we should have multiple opportunities throughout the race,” he said.

The team has been getting closer to their first win of the season in recent weeks with Gavin Hlady, taking a brave second place on a stage at the Alpes Isère Tour after narrowly being caught on the line by the peloton following a solo attack.

Stage 1 in Ronde de l'Oise is expected to be hit by cross-winds, but Nathan is eager to get stuck in and show off the  EF Education-Aevolo jersey.

“There’s just the four of us, Miguel, Jente, Roberto and myself, but we all can still make an impact on the race, so it’s a small but mighty squad, and I’m excited to race with them,” he said.

“The form has been good, and I’ve been able to get in some really good training, so I’m looking forward to putting that together this week and then carrying that hard work into the national championships in a few weeks,” he added.

One certainty is that the roster’s morale is heightened coming into the race. Our four riders are a tight-knit crew ready to take on the race and show the world what they’re made of. 

“The morale is super high at every race I’ve been to. We’ve been knocking on the door left and right with all our top-tens, and we were super close to a stage win last week, with Gavin taking second. Everyone wants to be the one who opens the floodgates,” Nathan said.