In his neo-pro year and called up just a few days before his debut Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana, where he was to wear the number one dossard. And how did 20-year-old Valerio Conti feel? “I was not nervous I was calm,” as he told Ciclismo Internacional in an interview.

Conti wasn’t able to ride in the winte due to a knee problem, but managed to get himself on track for his national time trial, where he was sixth, just 21 seconds off the podium.

“In Italy there is Malori who is very strong in the time trial, and I hope one day to get to his level.”

He then went to Utah to support Chris Horner, the man he would end up replacing in the Vuelta lineup.

“In Utah I was not in good shape, it is a race that takes place at altitude and is a good workout to prepare for the Vuelta.”

He even managed to get into the combined classification jersey during the first week of his debut Grand Tour before going into survival mode and finishing the race. He then went to Il Lombardia, a race he has designs on doing well at in the future.

“I love the tour of Lombardy, maybe it’s too early to get a good performance because it’s too long, at 260km, for a young first year. I hope to fight for a win in the future.”

However, just a week later, Conti found himself in the winning break of three in the GP Beghelli and just like that, he had his first pro win in his debut season for Lampre-Merida.

“The victory gave me a lot of happiness and morale for the future. (At the time) I was worried! I wanted to win and I managed to do so.”

He then rounded out his year with another top ten at the Japan Cup before enjoying his offseason and turning his attention to 2015, where he wants to develop and try to win a stage in his home Grand Tour, the Giro.

“I’m satisfied with my 2014. I hope to continue my career well and get good results. First I need to still improve with further growth and experience. I hope to do some nice races, maybe a stage win at the Giro d’Italia.”