While the riders have gradually resumed their training for the 2015 season, CyclingQuotes offers you an interview with a Slovenian rider: Jure Kocjan. This rider was part of the World Tour with Euskaltel Euskadi. But after a difficult year in 2013 -he was sick-, he could not show what he could do against the best. Without a contract for 2014, he engaged with Team SmartStop with whom he has found the way to victory.

"The off-season is over, I really enjoy it with my family, but now it is time to start to train again", he told Cyclingquotes. He explained that he has had a difficult end of the 2013 season. "I have had good results since 2009 when I was racing for Pro Continental teams and I was improving year by year. Euskaltel was a big opportunity to prove myself, but unfortunately the 2013 season was the worst in my career because of Lyme disease."

"At the end of 2013, the market was really bad, seven big teams folded so there were 150 riders looking for a contract. It was very difficult to find a team as I did not have any goodresults. For me as Slovenian it is even harder, because Slovenia is so small and here is no economy. I was thinking about retiring but I decided to race one more year even for free and I have no regrets. At the end of October all good teams in Europe were full so I decided to try in the US. I got an offer from Mike Creed from SmartStop and he was the only one who still believed in me", he added.

He left Europe and took part in many American races. But the schedule is less heavy than the European calendar. "The US calendar is not so busy as the European one. There are 4-5 important races (California, Philadelphia, Utah, Colorado, Alberta), but they are really good and very well organized. Roads in the US are bigger so the positioning is not super important all the time and the fans are amazing."

This year, his first race was the Vuelta Independencia Nacional (2.2) and he won two stages. In June, he finished 2nd in the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, just behind the American Kiel Reijnen (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling). One week later, in the Grand Prix Cycliste Saguenay, in Canada, he won the last stage and the overall. Against the best riders in the Tour of Utah and in the USA Pro Challenge, he finished second three times.

"I won 4 races, but I could have won another 3 or 4. A few times I won a field sprint for 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. At WorldTour level there are more strong teams in the peloton so it more often comes down to a sprint, but sometimes nobody could bring it back in the US. I do not have any regrets, I did everything I could. Maybe I just need a bit of luck to win big races. I was second 3 times in Utah and in Colorado I broke a finger so I didn't win a stage which was my goal."

He told CyclingQuotes about his best memory : "The best memory is when I wore the yellow jersey for 3 days in Utah."

About the 2015 season, Jure Kocjan is ambitious. With his team, he wants to shine in American and Canadian races: "We are aimimg to do all big stage races in the US and Canada and these races would be my main goal. I want to win the white jersey of UCI America Tour winner again. SmartStop have big plans for the future so maybe we will also race outside of the US. I have some friends in European Pro Continental teams but in 2015 I will race for SmartStop."