Luis Lemus is hoping his switch to Airgas-Safeway in the off season will bring the wins he has come close to over the past three seasons on Jelly Belly-Maxxis. The two-time Mexican national champion is ready to move from team player to team leader for the 2015 season.
"The last years I've been saying that I want to learn, I want to help the team, but I think this is the year that I want to prove myself," the 22-year-old told Cyclingnews at the Airgas-Safeway team presentation last week. "I want to win races. I want to win an NRC race. I've won UCI races before, so I want to keep doing that."
Lemus will get his first opportunity when the team travels to his hometown for the start of the Vuelta Mexico in March. The team added the race to its calendar after learning it would not be invited to the Tour of California in May.
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"The Vuelta Mexico is our first UCI race, and it's the first time I'm going to do it," Lemus said. "That's a big goal for me. The first race sometimes you don't know where your form is, but I've really marked this date, especially because it starts in my hometown. I'm excited for that."
At just 22, Lemus is already a journeyman professional, riding at the Continental level with Jelly Belly since he was just 19. Although he benefited from the experience of being on a team with one of the sport's most long-running sponsors, he said he was ready for a change at the end of the 2014 season, and overtures from Airgas-Safeway general manager Chris Johnson attracted him to the second-year Continental team.
"After the last race of the season I was looking for a change, so I started getting in contact with a lot of teams," Lemus said. "I contacted Chris [Johnson], and one of the things that made the relationship work better was that he really wanted me in the team.
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