Janier Acevedo rose to prominence with wins in the USA with Jamis Hagens Bermans before two bad years with Cannondale-Garmin. The Colombian has returned to his old team and wants to repay their faith in him straight away with wins at the Tour de San Luis.
“I was able to start my preparations well,” Acevedo told Cyclingnews two days before the start of the seven-day race in Argentina. “I was healthy and that was very important for me considering my last two seasons. So while still early in the year, I am feeling good. There are two uphill finishes in the race and those are the ones I will target.”
Acevedo is realistic about his chances of winning the race overall, as he knows his team may struggle in the opening stage, a 21km team time trial. But he still hopes to win the summit finishes and do well on the GC.
“First of all, I want to feel good, and the team time trial will be important as some of the best climbers will already put in a good time on us,” Acevedo said. “So we will start from behind but hopefully I can get time back on the hard days and finish up there on the GC.”
Speaking about his seasonal goals, once again the climber will be allowed to focus on the three big American stage races in California, Utah and Colorado.
“I came back to Jamis because it's a team that I felt very comfortable with in 2013,” Acevedo said. “It was like a family, and I think I can give my 100 per cent in that environment. The races that I will aim to do well in this year are Tour of California, Tour of Utah and in Colorado; those are my goals.”
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