As one of the first riders scouted for the squad, Tuft has repaid the faith placed in him by Sports Director Matt White. "Svein was one of the first riders I brought across to GreenEDGE" said White. "He works very hard in every situation. We always know what we're getting with Svein."
Tuft had several successes on the road in 2013 including the individual time trials at both the Tour de San Luis and Tour de Slovénie. He combined forces with Luke Durbridge in a record-breaking ride at Duo Normand and was part of the Tour de France team time trial squad whose win in Nice put Simon Gerrans in the yellow jersey.
"It was a pretty easy decision for me to stay" said Tuft. "This team is home for me and the riders and staff are family. I knew after the first season that this was the place where I wanted to ride out my career."
Beside his prowess against the clock, Tuft has been the team’s workhorse toiling on the front of the bunch for hours. His proclivity for setting the tempo, controlling the field and chasing down breaks has proved invaluable.
"He is one of the most reliable guys we've got. He's a super teammate who is also very accomplished in his own right. It's great news that Sveino wants to retire with us. He's a big benefit to all the younger guys on the team – to everyone, for that matter" said White.
Looking ahead, Tuft anticipates racing a similar program in 2014 as to the past two years. "My goals remain similar from year to year" said Tuft.
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The Tour of Oman is likely to be Tuft's first race of the season as he builds for the Classics. "I want to be in the best shape I can to help the team. I also try to align my targets with the team's objectives. For example, the Giro has a long 46km time trial that suits both me and Durbo pretty well. That will be an objective."
While harbouring personal objectives for next season, Tuft is once looking to help the team out on the road particularly in the team time trial at the World Championships.
