Lampre-Merida have decided to strengthen their group of sports directors. Philippe Mauduit will join the team from Tinkoff-Saxo while Mario Scirea has signed a contract witht the team after several years at Cannondale.

Team Lampre-Merida have completed the technical staff that  will start to plan the 2015 season at the team meeting in Darfo Boario Terme (December 1-4). The sports director that have worked for the team in the past season (Orlando Maini, Marco Marzano, Simone Pedrazzini, Daniele Righi and Bruno Vicino) will be joined by Philippe Mauduit and Mario Scirea.

Philippe Mauduit was born in 1968 in Tours (France) and in 2003 made his debut as sports director. He improved his skills year after year and he has reached the top level that allowed him to direct cycling stars, most recently Alberto Contador at Tinkoff-Saxo. However, he fell out with owner Oleg Tinkov and was asked to leave the team.

Mario Scirea was born in Oltre il Colle (Italy) in 1964. In his ten years in the team cars, he has achieved huge satisfactions by directing top riders to many important results.

“The aim of the team is to improve its qualities, that’s why we decided to add two expert sports directors whose skills are well known in the cycling world," manager Brent Copeland explained. "Mauduit and Scirea add value to the group of sport directors of the team that has already shown top quality in the past seasons. 

"Moreover, Philippe and Mario contribute to the distinguished balance between the international way and the Italian roots that characterizes our team.  I’d also like to point out that all of our sports directors have obtained the necessary licence from the UCI. The technical staff will work for common targets with harmony and each sport director will be responsible for specific tasks."