Conor White is ready for his first big gravel race of the season this weekend.

The professional cyclist will be competing in the two-stage X Santa Vall, which takes place in the mountains of Girona in Spain, with the event set to attract a few big names.

“I did a race on Sunday last week, a 100km race with a decent amount of climbing but the race this weekend is bigger,” White said.

“It’s two races in two days and there are a lot bigger names in this. It will attract a pretty big crowd but I don’t really have any expectations. I’m just going to go out there and have fun and see how well I can do.

“But my fitness is pretty good right now. I did some testing today and did my all-time best numbers across a 20-minute test, so I’m feeling great and we’ll see how it goes.”

White joined a new team ahead of the season, and is hoping he might be able to wear his new team kit for the event this weekend, even though it is not an official squad race.

“I’m waiting on a bit of kit so hopefully I’ll be wearing my team colours this weekend but no one from my team is here and I’m racing because it’s literally ten kilometres from where I am.” White said.

“I’m using it as part of my training as well as to just get some racing in.”

Although White’s new team is based in the UK, he is hoping to spend much of the year in Spain and jetting in and out depending on his schedule.

“I’m not going to be permanently relocating to the UK but I will be in and out throughout the year based on whichever races I’m doing,” he said.

“I plan to do most of my training in Europe if I can and then hop across England to race. There are blocks of time throughout the year, where I’ll be in the UK for maybe four or five weeks at a time but for the most part I won’t be living there.

“It’s looking likely that my first race for the team will be in April, so I’ll be here in Spain until March and then we’re working on a few details about whether I’ll come home for a bit or stay out here.

“The first UCI race with my team is supposed to be April 27 but I’m still working out potential conflicts that might arise with the national team and discussing which one will be best for me to do. We’ll go from there and then a few races in May before home for the nationals in June. I’ll then be in the UK for the rest of the summer.