Canada’s Dominique Rollin has returned to action again last week in the Tour of Qatar after having sat out the 2014 racing season without a contract. Thanks to a request by Nacer Bouhanni, he will help Cofidis’s red train in the sprints this year.

“Nacer wanted people he could trust around him, that brought about the idea of having me back because we had a good thing going on in 2013, winning some good races at the WorldTour and French level,” Rollin told VeloNews.

“It’s a good opportunity to come back. It gives me a goal, a purpose to be at the races and have a job, a focus. It brings me motivation.”

Rollin raced with Cervélo TestTeam and with FDJ, but found himself a victim of the market crunch at the end of 2013. He last saw action in the final stage of the 2013 Tour of Beijing. That year, four big teams shut down and about 70 cyclists, including Rollin, were left searching for contracts. He did not get one.

Thanks to the bond that he had with Bouhanni and to the success of the French sprinter in 2014, Rollin found his place for 2015. Over the winter, Bouhanni left FDJ and joined Cofidis. The Professional Continental team, led by manager Yvon Sanquer, wanted to build a team around Bouhanni and quickly got in touch with Rollin.

“I didn’t even race in 2014. I did two granfondos, the 200-kilometer Eroica on an old bike from the ’80s and in a wool jersey, and I did the Xavier Tondo around Girona,” Rollin said.

Sanquer contacted Rollin in May and, after talks, they soon agreed on a contract.

“I got in touch with the coach right away, I was exchanging data with the sports directors and team coaches. They saw me progress and saw that I was doing the right thing. They weren’t afraid that I had a year out of racing. They knew I was on the mark, even if I’ll be missing a little bit of my high speed. We’ll fine-tune the lead-out.”

Throughout the week of the Tour of Qatar, he worked with Bouhanni, who was out of his league in the strong winds common across the oil-rich peninsula. This week, they will start their second race in the Tour of Oman.

“The Milano-Sanremo and the Tour de France are the main goals. We already scouted the final of Sanremo in January. The Tour is the other goal on the list.

“First, we need to dial in the train. It’s up to Nacer Bouhanni, if things go well, I’ll go where he goes.”