The Katusha team is preparing itself for its first training camp in December and the 2014 season when it will again be led by Joaquim Rodriguez. Despite the Spaniard's success in his first four years in the Russian team, manager Viacheslav Ekimov expects that his captain will reach new heights in the coming season.

Joaquim Rodriguez made a bold move when he left his well-known surroundings at Movistar to become a team leader on Katusha prior to the 2010 season. With limited experience in the captaincy role, the Spaniard started a new adventure to see how far his potential would allow him to reach.

After four years on the Russian team, Rodriguez can proclaim the move a success. Two wins in Il Lombardia, a win in the Fleche Wallonne, stage victories and podiums in all three grand tours, an overall win in the Volta a Catalunya, stage wins in the Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya, Vuelta al Pais Vasco and Criterium du Dauphiné and second places in Amstel Gold Race, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the world championships are just some of the results obtained by the Spanish climber in his time as a Katusha rider.

The relationship has been strained at times when Rodriguez threatened to leave the team due to dissatisfaction with his wage. When the team temporarily was refused a ProTeam license for the 2013 season, he stated that he would leave the team if he couldn't be guaranteed a start in the Tour de France.

With CAS overruling the decision of the UCI license commission, harmony was restored and in May Rodriguez extended his contract with the Russian team until the end of the 2015 season. Despite Rodriguez turning 35 in 2014, Katusha manager Viacheslav Ekimov is convinced that Rodriguez will still be able to make improvements.

"We signed a contract with our leader for 2014 and 2015 and are very happy to have him on board for the next two years," he said. "We hope not only to repeat our previous results but also to reach new heights together."

The team is currently preparing for its first training camp for 2014 which will be held in Spain from December 8 to 19. On that occasion, the team will finalize the race schedule for Rodriguez which is likely to kick off in the Tour de San Luis in January and include a return to the Giro d'Italia where he came agonizingly close to the overall win in 2012.

"In less than two weeks, the team will meet for the big training camp in Spain where the basis for the first part of the season will be laid," Ekimov said. "Furthermore, we will define our main goals and plans for next year in dialogue with the riders. The plans for our leader Joaquim Rodriguez will become more clear too."

In contrast to last year, the team doesn't face the coming season with uncertainty as they have already been granted a ProTeam license. Ekimov is pleased to have more security.

"Right now the team is preparing for the upcoming season," he said. "Our work continues in its usual way, thanks to the team that allows us to do a serious work. Thanks to our sponsors and partners for their support and the fact that we have received confirmation from the UCI that we will have a WorldTour license in 2014 which helps us to focus on the main objectives."

The team will be mostly unchanged in 2014. Denis Menchov and Egor Silin have both retired while Timofey Kritskiy has signed with Rusvelo. Egor Silin will join from Astana while Pavel Kochetkov and Alexander Rybakov come from the Rusvelo team.