2014 has been a roller coaster for Carlos Betancur. An exceptional spring allowed him to become one of the stars of the early season. However, his second part of the season was a big disappointment after he was set back by physical problems that left him with no shape and too much weight and caused controversy with his Ag2r team.

It is no wonder that many have their eyes focused on the Colombian and the first races of the 2015 season will be important to see whether he is back to his best and again has the legs he showed in the Tour du Haut-Var and Paris-Nice and at last year's Giro d'Italia where he won the white jersey for best young rider.

The rider of Ciudad Bolívar has already confirmed that his schedule will see him tackle the Giro and the Vuelta next year as his teammate Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Peraud have been selected as leaders for the Tour de France. And those two objectives seem to provide him with enough motivation to redisover his best form. "I've never felt this good before the start of the season," he tells L'Equipe.

"I do not want to disappoint, I am very motivated. This time I have not stopped riding my bike for a single moment during my stay in Colombia," he says. He hopes that this dedication can allow him to start the first races on the international calendar at a good level. Now he just needs to hone a small detail that has continuously plagued him: overweight have always been an uncomfortable companion for Betancur. "I've always had small weight problems. Now I am three or four kilos overweight but I feel much better than I have done in other years," he says. In fact, he has managed to shine despite his weight problems. "I managed to win Paris-Nice even though I was no at 100% of my condition," he recalls.

That Paris-Nice where he also won the stage to Rive de Gier ahead of Bob Jungels and Jakob Fuglsang and the following stage on the Mur de Fayence ahead of world champion Rui Costa, became a double-edged sword.

"I know what happened but I don't want to go into details," he says before giving his version of what happened a few months ago. "I had a hard time after that victory, I thought things would change for the better and that is when it became very difficult for me. I lost all motivation. I had an argument with [Ag2r manager] Vincent Lavenu. It was reported that I wanted to change teams, but that is not the case. I have a contract until 2016 and I'm very comfortable here. There was a lot confusion and I have decided to start from scratch and rewrite my history with Ag2r. For now, I need to be in Colombia, I need to find myself, there is an emotional distance that often disturbs me."