After finishing 5th in the 2013 Giro d'Italia, Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La Mondiale) has set his sights on his debut in the Tour de France. With little experience in French races, the Colombian has designed a race schedule that will see him ride a lot in France in preparation of his first participation in the world's biggest race.

For several years, Carlos Betancur was known as a big talent but while he rode for Acqua e Sapone, the biggest team didn't take much notice of the former U23 silver medalist. Despite dominating the Italian one-day scene in 2012, only Ag2r-La Mondiale showed any kind of interest to sign him for the 2013 season.

That proved to be a wise decision by the French team. After a slow start to the season where he rode the Tour de San Luis in January but postponed his European debut until the Volta a Catalunya in late March, he started to get the ball rolling in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in April. He finished 7th overall after being narrowly beaten into second by compatriot Sergio Henao on stage 3 and went on to finish 3rd and 4th in Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege respectively.

However, his most impressive performance was delivered in the Giro d'Italia where he seemed to be the second best climber behind eventual winner Vincenzo Nibali. His time trial abilities and an unfortunate crash meant that he couldn't do better than 5th but he won the white jersey for best young rider and was 2nd on no less than three stages.

The second part of his season wasn't as successful as expected after personal problems destroyed his preparations for the Vuelta a Espana. However, he gradually rode himself into form and ended his season in the Tour of Beijing where he was 12th overall.

In 2014, he plans to make his debut in the Tour de France. While Domenico Pozzovivo will carry the Ag2r flag in the Giro, Betancur will be part of three-pronged attack in La Grande Boucle as he lines up with fellow GC riders Jean-Christophe Peraud and Romain Bardet.

In his first three seasons as professional, Betancur has only done two races on French soil: the 4 Days of Dunkirk and the Circuit de Lorraine in May 2012. To familiarize himself with the country, he will ride a lot in France in his preparation for the Tour according to the race schedule that has been announced by Biciciclismo.

Like last year Betancur will start his season in San Luis but will kick off his European campaign much earlier. He will do the very first race in Europe, the GP Marseillaise, on February 2 when he starts his series of French races. Afterwards, he will head to the Tour Mediteraneen where he will get the chance to test himself on the Mont Faron climb.

The revised course for Milan-Sanremo makes the Italian classics an objective for Betancur. Hence, he will travel to Italy to do the GP Camaiore and the Strade Bianche as he prepares for his first major target in 2014. He will then head back to France to ride the Paris-Nice before doing Sanremo.

His final race in France will be the Criterium International which will precede the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The Basque race will allow him to line up at the three Ardennes classics in peak condition, with the one-day races being his big spring target. He will end the first part of his season at the Tour de Romandie.

Betancur will then take short break while he prepares for the Tour. He will finalize his build-up at the Tour de Suisse, thus skipping the chance to ride a final time in France at the Criterium du Dauphiné.

Despite his highly successful season, Betancur failed to win a race in 2013.