Peter Schepp, head of performance at EF Pro Cycling, hinted at a big year for young Colombian Sergio Iguita, the team's big Grand Tour talent behind 2020 Tour de France leader candidate Rigoberto Urán.

The two will find success in the Grand Tour in 2019, with Uran coming in seventh in the Tour before suffering a brutal injury in a crash at the Vuelta a España.

Uran's injuries included fractures to his shoulder blade, ribs, and collarbone, as well as a punctured lung; the 33-year-old returned to racing in February's Tour Colombia 2.1, where he helped lead Higuain to a team podium sweep.

"For me, Uran continues to be the best Grand Tour rider on the team," Schepp told the Dutch podcast De Grote Plaat (opens in new tab). 'His professionalism and seriousness is really impressive.' I want Sergio Iguita to work on this, because he showed what he is capable of by winning a stage in the Vuelta."

Meanwhile, 25-year-old Hugh Carthy took a big step forward last season, finishing 11th overall, including a white star at the Giro d'Italia, an overall win at the Tour du Var, and a long-distance solo stage win at the Tour de Suisse.

"Hugh has gained a lot of morale from last season. The queen stage of the Tour de Suisse was one of his most beautiful days. If he competes in the Tour with the Colombian riders, you can imagine that his role will be very different from his role in the Giro."[11

Schepp also provided an update on the condition of the team's other leading climber, Michael Woods. The Canadian, who broke his femur and fell in Paris-Nice, is on the road to recovery and has resumed training.

"Woods has already resumed training at an appropriate level. He started athletically, so I don't think he's afraid of a pretty intense rehab. When I see him working on it, I think he's doing it in a very fresh way."

In addition to Higuain and Kersee, the U.S. team has a number of other promising talents scheduled to join in August, including Nielson Powles, Dani Martinez, and Stefan Bissegger.

EF is likely to lose one of its youngsters, as Mexican rider Luis Villalobos announced last year that he tested positive for the growth hormone GHRP-6 before moving on in August.

The news came more than a year after he provided a sample for out-of-competition testing, and EF suspended him indefinitely.

"The same year [that he tested positive], he came to our team. Our complaint is that the UCI said something a year and a half later, even though that athlete was under contract to us."

"We have to meet strict conditions. So we have to put in real money to prevent these cases. And then a year and a half later, we bring the message that this rider was positive. It's really crazy