In 2015, Juan Jose Lobato wants to take a "good step forward" and continue the progression of the last two years, the first at Euskaltel-Euskadi and now at Movistar. The Spaniard has started to train with the intention of starting the season well after a good 2014. He surprised with an impressive fourth place in Milan-Sanremo and even claims to have had the legs for more. Now he wants to translate his good feelings into more wins and "a big victory" and earn himself the recognition from his team.

After a month without any training, Juan Jose Lobato who will turn 26 in December, has been back on the bike for two weeks.

"I think it's the first year that I have had a month without riding my bike at all. Actually, I needed that break because I was mentally a bit broken after a very long season," he tells Biciciclismo in an interview. At the moment, he rides for up to three hours four or five days a week and very soon he will up the workload to six days. He will keep Sunday as his rest day.

In September in Canada, he ended a season that he considers "positive" and included two wins, one in the Tour de Wallonie and one in the Vuelta a Burgos, and seven second places. In March, he impressed in the Milan-Sanremo with a fourth place in the Italian monument behind Alexander Kristoff, Fabian Cancellara and Ben Swift. The result is a testament to his quality and proves that he is capable of shining in the biggest races.

"More than the fourth place, I appreciate how I felt physically. I still regret missing the podium but I will be back. On the Cipressa, I spoke wth [teammate Francisco] Ventoso and told him that I had never had legs like that and I was ready to follow moves on Poggio because I would be favoured by a smaller group. When I saw that Cavendish was there, I thought he was the man to beat. However, when I hit the finishing straight, I realized that he didn't have as much power as he has had in other years. I took the wrong wheel. And when I wanted to react, I moved up but it is not the same after 280km," he recalls.

Since 2013 he has taken a step forward every year and in 2015 he wants to become even better.

"I see myself winning something big. It is easy to say but every year I feel better and I believe that I will take another step. I would like to win a classic and a grand tour stage. You have to set yourself a goal and that's what I have done. I would love to win Sanremo. It's on my mind.. The two races that I like are Sanremo and the Worlds. I have not done the Worlds yet and I hope to ride it someday," he says.

Lobato is very hungry to get back on the road and knows that the only secret is to work hard. He has started early and wants to shine from the start.

"This year I have started to train early and hope to start well. If I could be selected for the Vuelta a Andalucia, I would be happy. In other years, I didn't start well. I trained hard but even after a month I was still not comfortable," he says.

His training mainly has one goal.

"We have focused pretty hard on what I should improve without forgetting the resistance. Each week I try to do two or three specific series. In principle, I am not doing any gym work although I do a bit of gymnastics in the evenings at my own house," he explains.

Lobato knows that he needs to earn the recognition from the Movistar team to be allowed to play his own card.

"Nairo (Quintana) and Valverde go to races to win. I do 15 races and I can win one. Currently, we have two riders who have proved that they are winners. To this day, I have not proved that. First I have to take that step for the team to give me confidence. That's my goal for the coming year and I am working hard to achieve it. I am missing something and I think I can get it and win more. This year I was second seven times. If I had won half of them, I would have five or six wins and it would have been very different. I've been with my trainer for three years and I think I have improved every year and next year will be good," he says.

In 2015, Lobato believes that he will start a grand tour after missing out on selection for the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta this year. He still managed to do 11 races and ended with 72 days of competition.

"They did not comment on my non-selection. I had the chance. I understand that I am a new rider and have not earned my place. I accept what the boss says. Of course I want to ride a grand tour in 2014. I proved that I can do it but who should the team select? They are the best. It is the best team for grand tours," he says.

Lobato knows that he is part of a strong Movistar team who has won the WorldTour twice in a row.

"I felt good. I adapted quickly. If you feel bad in races, it makes you want to improve every day and it is clearly my motivation. My problem was that I lost two very good years of my career by training too hard. That was my mistake. Now I am on the right track," he tells Biciciclismo.

Lobato has had a very consistent season and was almost always competitive.

"I've been at a good level. I felt pretty good and you can say that it has been my best year. Maybe I did not win any races in the first halp. For soem reason, I never managed to finish on top. I was always close. The victories arrived at the right time. And those who beat me, were the best (Kittel in Dubai and Cavendish in Switzerland) and it always left me with the feeling that I could give more. I think that I would have been a lot more nervous about not winning races in the past. The team has given me peace in mind. I have panicked so I think things went well," he explains.

Second in Dubai, Almeria, Sarthe, Switzerland, twice  in Austria... The long-awaited and deserved victory came in July at the Tour de Wallonie and he doubled his tally in August in the Vuelta a Burgos.

"The win was a relief. I saw that I was always there with the best, but I did not finish it off.Fortunately, in this race (Wallonia) I took a victory and was in great shape. In Burgos, I was good too and I knew the finish in Castillo. In such an uphill finish, I am strong," he says.