Warren Barguil broke through on the biggest scene when he won stages of the Vuelta a Espana - in his first three-week race ever. Currently forcing himself to stop riding, the Frenchman is eager to get back in action and prepare for the 2014 season.

When Warren Barguil won the Tour de l'Avenir and signed a  professional contract with Argos-Shimano was expected of 23-year-old Warren Barguil. Being a strong climber, the French public saw glimpses of hope that a potential new national Tour de France star was born.

However, he got his professional career off to a bad start when back problems made him unable to perform at the expected level in the first part of the season. Being disappointed with his results, he lined up at his maiden grand tour, the Vuelta a Espana, eager to take revenge.

And that's what he did. Having fallen out of GC contention due to a bad crash on the stage to the top of the brutal Alto de Hazallanas, he bounced back a few days later when he won the stage to Casteldefels from a breakaway. Just three days later, he did it all again when he beat RIgoberto Uran in a very close sprint to win the stage that finished on the Formigal climb.

After the Vuelta, Barguil rode the world championships and Il Lombardia before ending his season on home soil with the Paris-Bourges and Paris-Tours where he helped John Degenkolb win both races. He is now taking a rest to get ready for the 2014 season but his late-season success makes him eager to get going again.

“This is the time of the year that I’m really not supposed to ride,” he wrote in his column in L'Equipe. “I’ve arrived here pretty well this year, but I have to stop myself from riding my bike.

“I miss the sport so much right now. Since Paris-Tours I have ridden twice: three laps of the Gentlemen de Levallois and 80 km of the criterium of Curaçao [the Amstel Curaçao - ed]. That race was a good opportunity to take a week’s holiday in the sun with my girlfriend. I was the only Frenchman invited, in the middle of a load of Belgian and Dutch riders. At one point during the week Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) came to me and said: ‘You’re really not going to ride?’ No, I didn’t ride all week, it was an important step toward being more efficient in my winter preparation.”
 

Having had a big portion of his season destroyed by back problems, he is doing his best to avoid a recurrence of those woes.

“This week I saw a report on [TV station] l’Equipe 21 about the Embrun triathlon and I was really envious,” he wrote. “It proves that I need sport. I continue to do do strength exercises and stretching to strengthen my back and to avoid the problems that I had early season; I was getting a little sciatica. I’ve started with my girlfriend, and done some swimming, and I’m back on my bike this weekend for a cyclocross at Plougasnou.”

With his success, Barguil has received a lot of attention from the French public but he doesn't particularly like being in the spotlight.

“I meet a lot of people congratulate me for the Vuelta and my results,” he said. “I cut in and I tell them: ‘Can we stop talking cycling.’”

He refers to an incident in the Charles de Gaulle airport where a policeman made him a little worried.

“He walked towards me with a firm step and I was wondering what the problem was when he pulled out his phone for a picture with me. It felt weird," he wrote.

Barguil will travel to Spain in December for the first Argos-Shimano team camp. With the signings of young talents Lawson Craddock and Chad Haga, the team is trying to increase its focus on climbing and stage racing.

Barguil is a crucial part of those plans.

“I will take the plane for Spain in early December,” he wrote. “It will still be to get the sun, but this time to work with the team’s first training camp. They won’t need to force me to ride.”
 

The Argos-Shimano team has signed a contract with a new name sponsor which will replace Argos but the identity still hasn't been revealed.