Colombian latest addition to Italian squad
Team Lampre-ISD has confirmed the signing of Colombian Josè Serpa on a two-year deal. The change of teams will be a first for Serpa, who up until now has spent his entire career on the Androni Giocattoli – Venezuela team. The 33 year old this year won two stages of the Tour de Langkawi on his way to overall victory for the second time.
In releasing the news, Lampre said, “Grit will one one of the most important qualities that will characterize Team Lampre in 2013, so the signing of a ‘Lion’ is perfect in this view. That’s why blue-fuchsia team will add to its roster the “Lion from Bucaramanga.”
Sepra boasts 33 professional victories, most of them coming on Italian soil during prestigious races such as Coppi e Bartali, Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda and Giro del Friuli. He also dominated this year’s Tour de Langkawi, winning two stages, the overall and the mountains classification.
The Italian team has also confirmed the signing of neo-pro Luca Wackermann with Filippo Pozzato (Farnese-Vini) expected to be unveiled soon. The team finished fourteenth in the UCI WorldTour ranking this year and are losing sprinters Danilo Hondo to RadioShack-Nissan and Grega Bole to Vacansoleil-DCM.