Two years ago, in the middle of the Colombian invasion of Europe, one of the exponents excelled in the UCI America Tour with spectacular performances in the mountains that led to an early jump to the World Tour. The rider was Janier Acevedo who was quickly signed by Garmin (now Cannondale-Garmin). But things didn’t go as planned and he failed to show his worth during the two years at the top level.

Acevedo will now return to the USA and his former Jamis team.

"It was two years with good and bad things,” he tells Ciclismo Internacional in an interview. “I learned a lot and it was an unforgettable experience to be able to compete at that level, be next to such great riders and especially to be able to ride the Tour and the Giro.”

Acevedo is very honest and does not hide the reasons for his departure from Cannondale. 

"I really did not deserve to continue. They treated me well and gave me confidence to do many things but, unfortunately, I had many physical and health problems and I understand them. At this level I think you have to deliver results and show that you deserve to stay in the team.”

The Colombian details his problems. 

"It was bad luck. I had never had injury problems but in the first year with Garmin it was difficult to recover from a lesion that made me unable to train well for almost half a year. Then in my next year I got another injury after a throat operation and the loss of muscle mass made it even more complicated. That was the story of 2014. All this was hard and due to one thing and another, the performance was never good,” he said.

"During these two years I suffered a lot and it was frustrating not to be able to prove that I hd enough to do good things and continue on the WorldTour. Now that I was there, I am frustrated not to be able to continue, but I want to return to the sport," he added.

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"I could certainly have done some things differently. In life there will always be times when you want to turn back time and start all over again. But the idea that you learn and the errors are corrected. Today I am very happy to have this great opportunity, but I will not have problems to continue enjoying cycling .”

With that mentality, he faces his new challenge.

 "The contract with Jamis is for one year. I did not hesitate to sign with them because I felt very comfortable there. They treated me very well when I was there," he said. "I have great expectations for my return and hope to achieve good results. Sebastian (Alexandre, manager) always kept a place for me to come back whenever I wanted and I am happy to do so. I will start in San Luis and I will get well prepared to start the year on the right foot and keep looking for good results in all races," he concluded.