Vuelta winner Chris Horner’s long quest for a team finally ended on Thursday when Italian outfit Lampre said they had recruited the American.
“It’s official. Now Chris Horner is a Lampre Merida rider,” Lampre-Merida wrote on their Twitter feed.
The 42-year-old Horner won the 2013 Vuelta, becoming the oldest grand tour winner, but his contract with RadioShack — now Trek Factory Racing — was not renewed.
His previous best performance in a grand tour was ninth in the 2010 Tour de France.
Horner joins world champion Rui Costa of Portugal at Lampre, who finished 14th in the 19-team strong World Tour last year.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)