Jarlinson Pantano is now the 15th Colombian to ride at WorldTour level in 2015 after he signed with IAM Cycling this offseason. There are only five teams without a Colombian in their ranks now: FDJ, Lotto-Soudal, LottoNL, Giant-Alpecin and Katusha.

“IAM Cycling wasn’t a World team yet when I signed but it was already a team participating to most of the biggest races in the world,” Pantano said to Cyclingnews. “They did the Tour de France and the Vuelta last year. Now I have the opportunity to take part in all the biggest races in the world.”

“I’ve been recruited for doing a big work for our captain, Mathias Frank, in the mountains. I’m scheduled for racing the Volta Catalunya, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Dauphiné and the Tour de France if there’s any possibility. I love the route this year with a lot of uphill finishes.”

He has excelled in recent editions of the Giro d’Italia but the 26 year old doesn’t look like making a return this year. He spared a thought for his former employers, Team Colombia, who were not given a wild card this year.

“I also feel sorry for my friends from Team Colombia that they haven’t got the wild card for the Giro this year,” he said. “We’ve always done well there. Personally, I got close to winning a stage twice [third on stage 9 in Firenze in 2013, third again on stage 14 atop Oropa in 2014] but it’s never easy to win. I hope they’ll get an invitation for the Vuelta.”

He has already had a good start to the season, securing ninth place on GC at the Tour Down Under this morning.