After several years with Radioshack, Tiago Machado will find himself in a new role with Team NetApp-Endura were he is expected to be one of the leaders in stage races. The Portuguese has just completed a training camp with his new squad but regrets that his off-season has been dominated by bad weather.

When he rode his first races for Radioshack in 2010, Tiago Machado impressed most people by giving proofs of his versatile talents that include solid climbing legs and excellent time trialing skills. By finishing 2nd behind Alberto Contador on the mountain stage up Alto do Malhao in the Volta ao Algarve, he created big expectations for his future performances.

Machado went on to finish 3rd in the 2012 Tour Down Under and 2010 Criterium International, 2nd in the 2010 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe, 6th in the 2010 Tour de Romandie, 4th in the 2010 Tour of Austria, and 7th in the 2011 Tirreno-Adriatico to prove his great talents in shorter stage races. However, his progress stalled in his final two seasons with the team and when Radioshack turned into Trek, Machado had to find a new home.

He found it with NetApp-Endura who was keen to strengthen its core of riders for the stage races after a highly successful 2013 season that had seen young talent Leopold König win a stage and finish 9th in the Vuelta a Espana. With an eye on the Tour de France, the team was looking for riders to support their young Czech and Machado was the perfect match.

The Portuguese has just had the chance to meet his new teammates at a training camp in Mallorca and he is now ready for his first season with the German squad.

"Since last Friday I have been in Portugal," he wrote on his personal blog. "The team training camp ended on January 23 and I think it was a very productive camp. We will reap the benefits of the work we carried out during those 10 days in Palma de Mallorca.

"The last block of the camp was a good one with plenty of arduous and intense work. The climatic conditions were also not bad even though they were far from perfect. We just had to change plans one day due to rain."

However, Machado is less happy when it comes to the weather he has found back in his native Portugal.

"Another week has started with rain," he wrote. "This year my preseason has had plenty of water and even when you like the rain (which is the case for me), you can somehow have enough. You never go out for training without carrying your rain jacket."

Machado will start his season in the Challenge Mallorca and will then do the Volta ao Algarve where he has often done well in the past. The Vuelta a Murcia and Clasica de Almeria will be his final two races to prepare for the first big race of the season, the Tirreno-Adriatico.

"Now we must follow up on the work that we did with the team at the training camp as I have already done since I arrived where I have been making good use of it."