After a year of transition at NetApp-Endura in which he again showed his consistency and class, Tiago Machado has returned to the WorldTour with the Katusha  team. After a difficult final season with Radioshack in 2013, he has rediscovered his best legs and returned to his wonning ways. He now hopes to offer his best for the Russian team and will be focusing on one-week stage races and the Tour de France.

Tiago Machaso is again happy from both a personal and professional standpoint. He is back at the highest level and has just met his new Katusha teammates at a training camp in Calpe.

"I think we all want to be part of the best teams," he told Biciciclismo in an interview. "That is logical. And I believe that I have the quality to be with the bst. I had a bad year and took a step backwards but with the support from people I trust, my manager Juan Campos and a new coach, things went the right way and I am back where I want to be. I just want to ride a bike; what makes me dream is to go out and train every day and do my job. I would like to win races, of course. It doesn't matter that I have to work because it is part of the job. With the many days of competition, everybody will get their own opportunities and then it is about being good at the right time."

When a rider basks in the glory of victory, it is easy to forget the many ups and downs that are part of professional cycling. Every rider has times when they fail to reach their goals or progress in the way they want. "After having finished in the top 10 in 80% of my races, I finally managed to taste the success of victory (the overall win at the Tour de Slovenie, ed.). It was good to win the yellow jersey and it was a deserved reward for the people that supported me in 2013, those who were my closest friends in the worst moments. My family and Juan Campos have done a lot of get me back on track," he said. "When things at home are not good, it has an impact on your performances on the bike."

In 2014, Machado left Radioshack to join NetApp-Endura and he had a nice season. He was second in the Vuelta a Murcia, fourth in the Tour of California and sixth in the Giro del Trentino before he won in Slovenia. "I was no real leader. I had to prove muself in every race. It was a good year, I returned to my winnng ways and made new friends, and I am happy with the year I spent with NetApp," he said.

Machado received a welcome gift by his new team at the team camp when the list of 14 riders shortlisted for the Tour de France was announced. After his debut in 2014, Machado is fascinated by the French race. "In four years at RadioShack I was never in the selection. The I got here and when Jose (Azevedo) told me that I was on the list, I said 'You don't need to tell me that twice'. Everyone wants to be in the Tour. I did not push for it but now that I've tried it, I want to do it more times. I will do my best to be there," he said. "And being next to Joaquim (Rodriguez) in the Tour will fulfill a dream, to be with someone who has been number one in the world three times is something many people would like."

Many fans remember the panache Machado showed to reach the finish at La Planceh des Belles Filles in the Tour de France, as the final rider more than 43 minutes behind stage winner Vincenzo Nibali. Like Alberto Contador, he was involved in a dramatic crash on the descent of the Petit Ballon. "Crashes are part of cycling, but such a hard crash is not so easy to accept. I was in a good position on GC. I was third overall and then everything was destroyed. I thought: "I was in heaven and now I'm in hell '. But then I remembered what I have at home and I said ' I have to go so that I am sure that my mother knows that I have not broken anything'," he recalled.

Machado has already confirmed his schedule: Tour Down Under, Vuelta a Murcia, Classica Almeria, Volta ao Algarve, Paris-Nice, GP Miguel Indurain, Vuelta al Pais Vasco, Tour de Romandie, Tour de Fjords, GP Aargau, Tour de Suisse and theTour de France. He has no complaints. "I think it's a good calendar, in fact, the best I've had since I turned professional. They are races that make me dream. Considering the courses from the past years, I can go well in those stage races because they have time trials and summit finishes and people know that I climb well and am no poor time triallist. Anyone who knows me knows I'm always ready. I'll try to do the best I can to fulfill the objectives of the team, that's for sure. And if I am as good as this year, I think I can be with the best."

Sports director Azevedo is a significant support for him in his first time with Katusha. "I know Jose well. I met him as a rider and as a director at RadioShack. Now he is here to help me integrate better because it's all new to me," Machado said.

Portugal is a country with many good riders like former world champion Rui Costa, Nelson Oliveira, Sergio Paulinho, André Cardoso, Fabio Silvestre and Bruno Pires all riding at the WorldTour level. However, they has no big team - they are all at the continental level - or race calendar missing a great team in the country-all are continentales- and calendar. Machado has a few proposals for solutions. "The problem in Portugal, and Spain is that we have been in an economic crisis. One solution could be to make an Iberian calendar so people could compete more and to gather money for a solid and strong project because without money you can not do anything. It's complicated. You only have to look at football to realize that it is not easy," he said.

"It's not easy to have a cycling team in Portugal because we don't have many resources but there are many riders of high quality. Near my village, we have at least three kids that can get far but if they don't have the resources and the support, it will be complicated and they will have to follow another path in their life."

In any case, he is optimistic for the future of cycling in his country. "I believe that Portuguese riders are valued. It is not easy to have that opportunity, you have to show a lot, but I think that people now look with different eyes at cycling in Portugal. And if I'm not mistaken we can have another golden generation. Maybe we won't have 20 riders like Italy and Spain but gradually they arrive."