Filippo Zana signs two-year contract at BikeExchange-Jayco
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This article originally appeared on Velo News
Italian national road champion Filippo Zana has signed a two-year contract at Team BikeExchange-Jayco. The 23-year-old has spent the last three years at Bardiani-CSF-Faizane.
Zana becomes the third signing for BikeExchange this week following the news of Eddie Dunbar and Chris Harper’s arrivals from Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma, respectively. The Australian team already announced last month that both Simon Yates and Michael Matthews had both signed contract extensions.
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A three-time participant at the Giro d’Italia, Zana also won the Adriatica Ionica Race earlier this year. His stage-racing capabilities were also on show in 2021, when he finished third in the Tour de l’Avenir.
“It is a dream come true for me to join such an important team as GreenEdge Cycling. It is something that I desired since I started cycling when I was six years old, to join one of the best teams in the peloton,” Zana said in a press release issued by his future team.
“I have lots of emotions and lots of motivation to train more and better to keep improving and pay off the trust Team BikeExchgange-Jayco is giving to me, from Brent to all the staff I have been speaking with. We have many goals and we will try to achieve them.
“Of course, next year will also be important for me to keep honoring the Italian national champion’s jersey, and to start off on a good path with this jersey will be even more important for me. Of course, I must thank everyone who has supported and helped me so far in my career, this next chapter is about to begin and I can't wait to begin to also pay back the hard work I put in over these years.”
General manager Brent Copeland believes that Zana can develop into an important rider in the team’s GC strategy in grand tours, and the Italian certainly strengthens the core around Simon Yates for next year.
"It is always special to have national champions on the team and we are delighted to be bringing Filippo onboard for next season. He is only 23 years old but has so much experience already and is certainly a rider we have been interested in for a while now and a rider we see a bright future with. He has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he has what it takes to compete at the highest level, and he proved that with a fantastic win this season at the Italian championships, Copeland said.
“We are continuing to grow and strengthen our team for the Grand Tours and Filippo will play a big role in that. We hope he will be a valuable contributor to many more of our success and also have more success himself in GreenEdge Cycling colours."
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