Following last week's news that Colombia is interested in signing Samuel Sanchez for the 2014, the team's manager Claudio Corti has confirmed that the Euskaltel leader would be a welcome addition to the team. With the team mostly made up of young Colombian riders, Sanchez would provide the team with leadership and experience that would help the growth of the riders from the South American country.

With Samuel Sanchez once again having vented his frustration that he still has no concrete offer for the 2014 season, a door appeared to open up in the weekend when the Colombia team showed its interest in the former Olympic champion. Speaking to Velonation, a team spokesman confirmed that the team would like to include Sanchez on the roster if he could resolve his contractual situation with Euskaltel.

Sanchez signed a contract until 2015 with the Basque team and recently told Ciclismo Internacional that he was negotiating a termination with the team management, probably asking for a buy-out deal. Until he has settled the case, he is not free to sign with another team and with time running out, he needs to clarify his situation soon.

Colombia manager Claudio Corti has now confirmed that Sanchez is indeed of interest for his team if the Spaniard finds a solution to his current contractual obligations. Speaking while preparing a travel to Colombia to discuss the team with sponsors and government representatives, he explained that Sanchez would provide leadership and experience to a team that is mostly made up of younger riders.

“Clearly, he’s an interesting rider for us because he’s experienced and speaks the same language,” he told VeloNews. “At this point, though, it’s all theory because he still has a two-year deal with Euskaltel.

“Bringing the Colombians up to a high level will take time. They need to race and build experience. Clearly, if you add in an experienced rider it moves things along at a faster pace. We want to help these riders improve and grow. You can’t take a rider from Colombia who’s never raced at the international level and win the Giro. You need that experience of racing and being in big teams. If these guys have someone like that near them then they improve faster.”

Colombia was created to help young Colombian riders turn professional at the highest level and has had a successful first two years in the peloton. In 2013, the team rode the Giro d'Italia for the first time and took its first WorldTour victory when Darwin Atapuma - who will ride in BMC colours in 2014 - won one of the hardest stages of the Tour de Pologne.

Corti has previously said that he is trying to attract a new sponsor that would allow the team to sign a bigger name that could both help the younger riders and give the team results. He pointed to Rigoberto Uran as an option but as the Colombian chose Omega Pharma-Quick Step as his future team, Sanchez could be a replacement.

At the moment, Sanchez only appears to have two options for the future: Colombia and the new Wanty team. The latter has confirmed that they would like to sign the Spaniard as he could open the door to one of the grand tours.