When David de la Cruz signed with Team Ineos two years ago, he believed it was the perfect place for him to develop as a Grand Tour rider.With five days until his two-year contract expires, de la Cruz still feels his potential is untapped, and in 2020 he will be joining UAE Team He hopes to have more resources at his disposal at the Emirates.

De la Cruz, who joined the British team from Quick Step, won stages at Ruta del Sol and Paris-Nice (where he also finished 10th overall) in 2018 and finished 15th at the Vuelta a España.

However, his 2019 campaign was not so fruitful, with a number of injuries and a controversial late inclusion in the Vuelta.

"Team Sky was a good experience. I learned from guys like Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, and Michal Kwiatkowski.

"But we didn't find the space we were hoping for. There were so many riders with similar profiles, all very talented, that it was hard to find space. When you go to a team with a lot of competition, it's hard to find your place, and that was the main reason why I didn't perform as well as I wanted to. There is competition within the team, and it's hard to get picked for races, so you don't race, you don't race the races you want to race, or if you do race, you're not 100% fit. It complicates things."

De la Cruz will put on the white jersey of the UAE Team Emirates in the New Year and is proud to be riding again for "one of the top teams in world cycling" after Quick Step and Ineos.

He was persuaded to join by a conversation with team manager Joxen "Matosin" Fernandez, who used to work for Quick Step.

"I have a good relationship with him and he believed in my abilities. That was important," de la Cruz said.

"After a rough year, someone calls you and trusts you ....... That's motivation. I want to train hard and get good results, not only for myself, but for those who believed in me."

De la Cruz, who finished seventh in the 2016 Vuelta, wants to focus on Grand Tours in the UAE. With Tadei Pogacar, who finished third in this year's Vuelta, Fabio Aru, who won the Spanish race in 2015, and many young talents on the team, De la Cruz should find more opportunities than he did during his Ineos days.

In 2020, he will compete in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, sharing the lead with Davide Formolo in the Giro.

"Basically, the goal is to see how far I can go in the Grand Tours and in week-long races like the Basque Country and Catalunya. I want to see how far I can go if the team trusts me."

"I want to see how far I can go,"

"I want to see how far I can go.

"I feel like I can do bigger things [in Grand Tour] if everything goes well and I have a team that supports me and gives me all the tools. That's what motivates this team. If in the end it doesn't happen, I will know that it is because of my own limitations and not because of the team not having everything in place for me."