Darwin Atapuma is one of the first beneficiary of the Team Colombia project, meant to serve as a „launching pad” for talented cyclists originating from South America and aiming to make their way all through to the best World Tour teams. After successfully leading the Colombian UCI Pro Continental team for two consecutive seasons and being an author of their most significant achievements to date,  Atapuma signed a contract with American-based BMC team and hopes to play a prominent role in some of the 2014 major races.

25-year old Atapuma was one of the most improved among Claudio Corti’s riders, and proved to be an exceptional climber while he took the first ever victory for Team Colombia at the Giro del Trentino 2012 mountainous stage finishing on Passo Pordoi.

"That was the most important day of my sporting life ," outlined then Atapuma , while in the following month Colombian was able to confirm his quality in the queen stage of the Tour of California, where, on the Alto de Mount Baldy, he was only surpassed only by a Dutchman Robert Gesink.

Second year in the Colombian Pro Continental team saw the further improvement of Atapuma, while he managed to finish tough Giro d’Italia 2013 edition in the top 20, on his maiden participation in the Grand Tour event. He also took yet another victory for Team Colombia, their first one in the World Tour level race, during Tour de Pologne.

The Colombian climber prizes the time spent under the wings of Claudio Corti, for the experience he was allowed to gain as a team’s leader while racing in both Europe and North America.

“I think this [Team Colombia] has been the foundation of my further development. I'm very satisfied and glad to contribute to Team Colombia project,  which with the help of God I was allowed to join, which gave me numerous opportunities to gain experience and supported my aspirations to level up and  sign with World Tour team, as it happened with BMC for 2014.”

“I think Claudio ( Corti ) knows the trade of a team manager well, he has a lot of experience and that's very important. He has already led quite strong teams in Europe, and thanks to him Team Colombia has been provided with good organization what set the foundations of its visible development. The results have already started to come and I believe the best time of Colombian cycling is yet to come, what we’re going to see coming next season.”

“I initially signed [with BMC] for two years, my contract expires in the end of 2015. And I joined such a great squad like BMC only thanks to the Team Colombia, which has given me the confidence to be a leader of the team, what was crucial in terms of the results that have arrived and allowed me to be spotted by World Tour team.”

25-year old Colombian has signed with American based BMC a two-year contract and  has already started his preparations for the upcoming season, his first one in the outfit of World Tour team. Although the final decisions concerning a shape of his 2014 racing calendar are yet to be made, Atapuma is confident about his main objectives up to the Tour de France and believes the team will allow him to play a prominent role in some of the major races.

“I will debut with BMC team at the Tour de San Luis in Argentina.  Then I will come back to Colombia to  proceed with my preparations to the Tirreno-Adriatico , the Tour of the Basque Country where I think I will be a leader - as in San Luis, then I’ll ride a couple of Classics in Belgium, I think the Liege and Amstel Gold Race, and next I will participate in the Critérium Dauphiné. Afterwards I should be ready to debut at the Tour de France.”

“Initial racing schedule has been presented to me and I have been nominated to ride the Tour de France in a support of Tejay Van Garderen,” Atapuma said about his main objectives with the new team

Atapuma admits that he feels honored to ride in the same team with more renowned riders in the likes of Cadel Evans or Philipe Gilbert and he hopes to make a good use of their valuable experience.

“They are great and already recognized riders who have won important races. They are very experienced and I hope to learn from them as much as possible. Such perspective gives me much joy and I wish that each racing day spent with them will bring me closer to become a great champion of their kind,” Colombian said about racing together with Evans and Gilbert.