Miguel Angel Lopez described his return to Astana Kazakstan as a homecoming and said "it's time to dream big" as he described his plans to target the Giro d'Italia in 2022.

The Colombian climber left the Kazakhstan team where he turned pro in 2015 to join Movistar in 2021, but his tenure with the Spanish team lasted only nine months and ended on a sour note with his sudden exit at the Vuelta a España.

López's contract with Movistar was terminated on October 1, and his return to Astana in 2022 was immediate thanks to the reinstatement of his old confidant Alexandre Vinokurov and the withdrawal of his Canadian sponsor, Premier Tech.

Lopez is currently in Spain for his first preseason training camp and, although not technically hired by the team yet, spoke to the media wearing a 2021 Astana-Premiatek tracksuit.

"It's like coming home," Lopez said. It's like I'm back on the same path I was on a year ago."

"But you can see that the structure of the team has changed a lot. A lot of new riders have come in, like Gianni [Moscon]. We have high-level riders here and that makes us one of the strongest teams. It's a good atmosphere and we are focused on hard work. For me, it's a new challenge to come back and do what I do best."

Lopez insisted that he is "still the same person" and did not feel any different from when he left last winter, but suggested that his time at Movistar has shaped him.

He signed a nondisclosure agreement regarding the reasons and circumstances of his departure from the Vuelta and has already criticized Movistar's management in the Colombian media, which remained vague about his controversial and mysterious departure.

"Sometimes you have to make changes. It may work, it may not. In the end, as things happen, it all serves as an experience, something to hold on to," he said.

Lopez prefers to look ahead and confirmed that his goal is the Giro d'Italia in 2022.

After plummeting off the podium in the time trial two years ago at the Tour de France the day before, it comes as no surprise to Lopez that the time attack distance for the 2022 Giro d'Italia will be extremely short.

"The route for both the Giro and the Tour caught my eye, but I'm going to concentrate on the Giro alone," he said. At the moment I don't know if I'll be in the Tour or not. I'm going to put all my energy into doing well in the Giro."

As for his aspirations for next May, he did not shy away from deviating from the standard preseason interview script and setting the bar high. He finished third in 2018 and, as he did in the Vuelta later that year, set a podium as the "minimum" requirement.

With his loss in the Vuelta, Lopez's Grand Tour record has been cut short by a crash at the Tour de France early last year (which Lopez blames on Movistar management for forcing him to abandon after stage 18) and an opening-day crash at the 2020 Giro late in the season This was his third consecutive retirement.

However, the 27-year-old highlighted his previous achievements, including six top-seven finishes on the Giro and Vuelta podiums.

"I think now is the time to think about going for something bigger," Lopez said.

"We have come so close in the past, including this year's Vuelta, where we were on the podium. I'm going into this with great hope and motivation, especially being a 'new' team."

"We're going into this with a lot of hope and motivation."

"I can dream of achieving something big. I've been close before and I can think about going for a stage or at the very least finishing on the top like a podium."