Tom Dumoulin hopes 2019 will be kinder to him than last year after he finished second in both Grand Tours he raced.
The Dutchman finished 46 seconds behind Chris Froome at the Giro d'Italia and was runner-up to Geraint Thomas at the Tour de France two months later.
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It compounded a frustrating season for the Team Sunweb rider, who narrowly missed out on adding to his sole major title at the 2017 Giro.
Dumoulin will attempt the Giro-Tour double this year and he hopes to have a little bit more luck on the roads of Italy and France.
Speaking to Omnisport at Sunweb's team presentation in Berlin, he said: "Winning would be improving! But yeah, I hope to make just a little bit of another step.
"It will be a year with more experience, hopefully a little bit stronger also, physically.
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"Then I hope to make that extra step into winning one of the two Grands Tours. I think I am definitely one of the favourites going to the Giro."
The next 12 months will be Sky's last in the sport, which has cast uncertainty over cycling's dominant force.
Dumoulin has been frustrated by their riders in recent years but hopes the team gets a new sponsor to ensure they do not fold.
"If they cannot find a sponsor during the next year, then it will definitely affect everyone in cycling," he added.
"It will be very bad for cycling if they don't find a sponsor anymore. So I hope they do."
