Fully dedicating his first season at Lampre - Merida to play the role of a domestique to his leaders, distinguished by truly inimitable style Colombian Jose Serpa speaks very positively of the past year in the outfit of the Italian team.

Although throughout the 2013 season, Jose Serpa has not reached any results comparable to spectacular achievements of his younger fellow countrymen Carlos Betancur, Nairo Quintana or Rigoberto Uran, and playing the supporting role did allow him to take a spot in the top 20 of any races in which he participated, still it turned out to be a season of fulfilled dreams for the Colombian.

Serpa’s biggest objective as a professional cyclist was participation in the Tour de France, therefore finishing the race in 21 place in the GC is rightfully considered as a source of pride and uncontested crowning of the season marked by solid work.

„Racing on a World Tour level is a dream come true, it is the reward for many years of sacrifices and many years of work. To ride the Tour for the first time an immense joy, incomparable to anything else I've ever felt while racing on a bike, and was one of the dreams I had to fulfill,” Serpa told in the interview for Revista Mundo Ciclistico.

“I think it's been a great year for me, while I was able to live up to the team’s expectations. That's the most important issue to keep the sponsors happy and to ensure continuity for the next year”

Interestingly, when asked about objectives for the upcoming season, Serpa again primarily pointed to possible participation in the Tour de France, breaking the pattern followed recently by other Colombians.

„Arguably the Tour. If I had the opportunity to choose , I would go for this great race. The route of the Tour is much more suited to my abilities as the Giro. Climbs of the Tour are slightly stretched , require more speed, thus considering my weight and my characteristics they favor me .”

“Upcoming year I would like to ride two of the “Grands” , possibly the Tour and Vuelta a Espana, but we have to wait for the schedule to take its final shapes. Also I'd like to participate in the World Championship road race and some important classics.”

During the first season in the outfit of Lampre – Merida, Colombian managed to fully get used to the new working environment and gained the confidence of his teammates. He admits that the departure of Michele Scarponi and the emergence of a new leader in the person of Rui Costa creates uncertainty and does affect the atmosphere. Serpa hopes that training camp planned for December will allow to rip up the team in its changed composition and bring a definitive answer to the questions on the form of next year's schedule.

„The team was also pleased, very satisfied with my work. I have gained the confidence of the squad , my teammates and trainers, in December our first meeting is to be held in Italy and we will try to square the schedule for 2014 together.”

“For me it's a shame that Scarponi is gone, because the truth is that team had a leader in him, we had quite friendly relations, we participated in most of the races together. Now the new leader arrives. Of course he’s the World Champion, everyone knows it, but we do not know each other personally. But at the end the important thing is to work hard and live up to what the team expects from you.”