Julian Arredondo appeared to be one of the most improved riders of the professional peloton, and just another highly capable Colombian climber, when he won a queen stage of the Tour de San Luis in his new Trek Factory Racing outfit in January. Strong and explosive, the 25-year old rider reflected on his newly developed affection for Ardennes classics and admitted to be determined to go for a stage win during his grand tour debut in the 2014 edition of the Giro d’Italia.

Having victories at 2013 editions of the Tour de Langkawi and Tour de Kumano, Arredondo very quickly confirmed that Trek Factory Racing made no mistake by signing the young Colombian climber, as he won two mountain stages at the Tour de San Luis and, more importantly, finished fifth in the general classification at the Tirreno-Adriatico. Arredondo admitted, that a transition between riding for Pro Continental and WorldTour team went smoothly.

“It was an easy transition, I adapted as I hoped and I have already demonstrated that I belong with the best riders. The two stage wins in the Tour de San Luis meant a lot, brought me more peace and confidence, and now I’m sure many important things will follow,” Arredondo told Café Roubaix.

An illness forced 25-year old Colombian out of the Vuelta a Catalunya before its queen stage, but Arredondo bounced back with promising performances in the Ardennes classics, admitting that he quickly developed big affection for hilly one-day races highly suitable to his characteristics.

“I managed to finish 11th in Flèche Wallonne, although I traveled the day before the start. It remains the race of my dreams. Liège–Bastogne–Liègerace is another important Classic, with a beautiful parcourse and many people on the side of the road. Both Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège fit me perfectly, so in the future I will be back to fight for victory in these two Classics.”

Mostly because of an obvious lack of experience Arredondo couldn’t be appointed a Trek Factory Racing leader for his grand tour debut at the Giro d’Italia, the role was eventually entrusted to Robert Kiserlovski, but Colombian made it clear that his main objective is to go for stage victories in the three-week event. And confessed, that he red-circled many of them.

“Giro d’Italia will be my debut in a three-week race and I must say I feel very good physically, despite the visa problems. I will give everything and I’m confident the results will come.”

“It’s a pretty hard Tour of Italy, I looked over the course and there are plenty of stages that caught my attention, especially the one in Montecassino, which has an eight kilometer-long climb at the finish. Anyway, I’m relaxed and prepared to take things easy, day by day.”

“My role is to help Trek, to look for opportunities of winning a stage and to help Robert Kiserlovski, our team leader. I don’t know if I’ll go for the climbers jersey, but I do know that my personal goal is to win a stage.”