After the 2002 World Fencing Championships in Lisbon he decided not to go back to Cuba. He settled in Southern France and went on fencing on the national circuit. He married a French woman, had a daughter and eventually became a French citizen in 2010, which allowed him to be selected in the French fencing team. After ten years away from high-level competition, he reached the quarter-finals in the Legnano World Cup in January 2013 and won a bronze medal in the Challenge RFF (Paris World Cup) in May. He was a member of the French team that won the bronze medal in the World Championships in Budapest and finished the 2012–13 season at 10th place in FIE rankings. In the 2013–14 season he earned a bronze medal in the Legnano World Cup and in the Vancouver Grand Prix.