Colombians lead UCI America Tour

Two Colombians, Gregorio Ladino and José Serpa, top the newest UCI America Tour rankings with 136 points each, while an Argentinean, Alfredo Lucero holds third position with 118 points.

The UCI America Tour kicked off the New Year with the traditional Vuelta al Tachira in Venezuela, from January 6 to 17. This event was dominated by Venezuelan riders, with overall victory going to Ronald Gonzalez who finished with a seven second margin over Tomas Gil.

In the meantime, Argentina hosted two events in January: the Giro del Sol San Juan, from January 16 to 17, and the Tour de San Luis, from January 19 to 25.

The Giro del Sol San Juan, a 2.2 event, was won by the Argentinean Emanuel Saldano and provided a warm-up event for the Tour de San Luis which was upgraded this year to category 2.1.

Among the 22 participating teams in the Tour de San Luis were three ProTour teams: Liquigas led by Ivan Basso, Team Saxo Bank led by American Jason McCartney and Fuji-Servetto led by Spaniard David de la Fuente. They were joined by three UCI Professional Continental Teams, six UCI Continental Teams and ten national teams.

Alfredo Lucero, a San Luis native, scored the biggest win of his career, followed by Jorge Giacinti, the 2007 edition winner. The two Argentineans entered the UCI America Tour Rankings in third and fifth places respectively. In addition to their overall win in San Luis, their compatriot, Saxo Bank sprinter JJ Haedo, scored two stages victories.

Upcoming races in the UCI America Tour include the Tour of Cuba, from February 10 to 22, and the Tour of California, from February 14 to 22.