CCC Sprandi-Polkowice has made the signing of Victor De La Parte (1986, Team Vorarlberg) official. The Spaniard is expected to debut in the Giro or the Vuelta in 2016 as one of the leaders of the Polish team that is still waiting for the confirmation of their pro continental license that would give access to the WorldTour calendar.
Victor De La Parte had a breathrough season in 2015 when he won two stages and the overall of the Tour of Austria (2.HC) against the WorldTour teams. He is pleased to get his chance with a bigger team like CCC. "I have done a lot of race with them. I knew it was a big team and already in the Tour of Austria they were interested in me. From the beginning I saw it as an opportunity and it is now a reality. I think it was a step that I had to take and which I needed. It is a team that is growing fast. It aims to be in the WorldTour in 2017," he tells BiciCiclismo.
After his debut with Caja Rural in 2011, he spent time with the continental teams SP Tableware (Greece) in 2012, Efapel (Portugal) in 2013 and 2014 and Vorarlberg (Austria) in 2015. "I have had a lot of hard times. I come from a small team, so when an opportunity like this presents itself you don't want to miss it. If I expected more, I could be left with nothing. I could not pass up the train and so I think that it is a wise decision," he says.
He first turned professional at 25 years of age and now he reaches the elite again at the age of 30. "Maybe things have to be like this. I had to ride with the amateurs until I won 11 races. Now is the ideal time. I have the perfect age because I started very late. This season I have noticed that I have taken a big step and I think I am now ready to do big races," he says.
Now he has access to the best races in the world and he wants to get his chance in a three-week race. "The dream of the team is to be in the Vuelta a Espana after riding this year's Giro. The calendar seem to be perfect, the Giro and the Vuelta, Catalunya which they already played this year, the Basque Country ... races I've only seen on TV before. And we have a large roster to deal with it," he says.
Besides the Tour of Austria, he won another stage race in 2015, Fleche du Sud (2.2), and a stage in the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt (2.2). He was fifth in the Tour de Taiwan, sixth in the Spanish time trial Championships and 11th in the Czech Cycling Tour (2.1).
Adam Wadecki, CCC manager, welcomes him and underlines his qualities. "We were very impressed with his performance in the Tour of Austria. He was brilliant in the mountains and Jan Hirt had to dig deep to keep his pace on the climbs. He will be a great addition to our team in stage races. He is not only strong in the mountains, but can do a good time trial and has even won some," he says.
Simone Ponzi (Astana), Felix Großschartner (stagiare Tinkoff-Saxo) and Alan Banaszek (junior) are the other signings confirmed so far.
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