After two lacklustre seasons with Movistar, Juan Jose Cobo finds himself without a team for 2014 - just two years after he marvelous Vuelta win. Acknowledging that his results have not been at the expected level, the Spaniard is prepared to ride at continental level in 2014, with the firm intention of returning to a top team for the 2015 season.

Juan Jose Cobo had his moment of glory when the then Geox-TMC rider beat Chris Froome to win the 2011 Vuelta a Espana. Having originally started the race as a domestique for Denis Menchov, the Spaniard emerged as the strongest rider in the race and won a thrilling battle against the rider that later took over the Tour de France crown.

When his Geox-TMC team suddenly folded, Cobo was left on the market but found himself in the comfortable position of being one of the most coveted riders looking for a new team. He ended up signing a contract with the Movistar team but after two fruitless years, he now once again finds himself in the position of searching for a new team.

This time the situation couldn't be more different. In the beginning of December, the 32-year-old Spaniard still finds himself without a team for the coming season. Having early been told that his contract wouldn't be renewed, he has had plenty of time to find a new employer but until now his search has been unsuccessful.

As most professional teams have closed their rosters, there is little hope that Cobo will find a top level team for the coming season. He now realizes that he may have to ride at a lower level for a year while trying to earn himself the right to return to the top level.

"At the moment, I have nothing," ," he rol El Diario di Montanes. "I am talking to a small team to see if I can save the year and then return to the highest level in 2015. My intention is to keep riding and may have to take a step down from the highest level.

"Movistar and Caja Rural have already said no. My future may be with a continental team and not a UCI ProTeam or a foreign team."

Cobo's future may be uncertain but he certainly hasn't given up hope. He has started to prepare next season as if he was still secured a professional contract.

"It is like all other years," he said. "The plan is to keep riding and preparing for it. Physically I am fine. I ride 4 or 5 days a week and now I begin to do it every day. Mentally I am calm. I know exactly why I'm in this situation and I recognize it. I like to ride and I feel good which is very important."

An inconsistent rider

Cobo has been one of the most inconsistent riders in the professional peloton. Mostly referred to as a fabulous rider, he has a fragile mind and even contemplated retirement just months before his big Vuelta triumph.

He first showed his talents as a Saunier Duval rider in the 2007 season when he won two stages and the overall at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. He went on to finish 20th in the Tour de France one year later but when he returned to the French grand tour one year later, it ended up as a disaster.

While Cobo wasn't implicated in any doping affair himself, his teammates Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli who had won three stages among them - Piepoli by riding to the top of the Hautacam alongside Cobo - tested positive for CERA and the entire team left the race. The team underwent several name changes in the subsequent period as it tried to save its existence and Cobo first showed his inconsistency by being mostly anonymous in 2009.

However, he returned to form in time for the Vuelta where he won a stage and finished 10th overall. Those results earned him a contract with Eusebio Unzue's Caisse d'Epargne team but he had a horrible 2010 season with very little racing and no results at all.

He returned to familiar surroundings at the Geox-TMC team which was the successor of his former Saunier Duval team but his disastrous riding continued in the first part of 2011. Everything changed when he suddenly found his legs for the Vuelta, taking that big career-defining triumph.

He returned to Unzue's team, now known as Movistar, and hoped to shine in the Tour and Vuelta in 2012. However, he didn't have much success in any of the grand tours but showed glimpses of his potential in the French grand tour.

This year he had hoped to focus on the GC in the Vuelta but a bad crash in the team time trial left him with no opportunity to shine and he finished an anonymous 116th. In the final part of the season, he barely raced and wasn't selected for the Vuelta despite expressing his desire to return to the scene for his biggest triumph.

A lack of results

He acknowledges that he can only blame himself for his uncertain future.

"In addition to the crisis in cycling with folding teams that make little room for riders, my lack of results in the past two seasons have been decisive," he said. "Everyone has to be realistic and it's my fault. I have not reacted as I should and I fully understand what happens."

Hence, he completely understands why Movistar decided not to renew his contract.

"I have not paid back the trust they had in me," he said. "I have not takes my opportunities and have missed two important years."

Cobo has been at his best while riding with Joxean Matxin Fernandez who was one of the key figures on the Saunier Duval and Geox-TMC squads.

"He relieves me from pressure," he said. "Moreover, he is a friend who gives me confidence. He sets no specific targets and gives me a nice race schedule and then the results start to come."

Matxin is now working as a sports director for Lampre-Merida but has been unable to secure Cobo a ride on the Italian team.