With no sprinter in their ranks, it was all about keeping GC captain Sylvain Chavanel safe for IAM in yesterday's first stage of the Tour of Belgium. However, a late puncture almost derailed all their plans.

The first stage of the Bâloise Belgium Tour could not escape the grip of the sprinters.  Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) stamped his authority on the race ahead of André Greipel and Théo Bos. 

IAM Cycling preferred to play it safe in the middle of this melee.  Eddy Seigneur, one of the directeurs sportifs for the Swiss team along with Mario Chiesa, explained what had happened. 

“We do not have the sort of sprinters who are likely to compete with the best racing here.  Our team is built around Sylvain Chavanel with a view towards the time trial on Friday.  He feels good and we have other strong riders such as Brändle, Hollenstein, Elmiger and Löfkvist on the squad.  So today, we were only trying to remain attentive. 

"We spent a pretty quiet day in the saddle except for a fright that Sylvain had.  He suffered a puncture six kilometers from the finish, but luckily Chavanel was able to return to the pack with the help of five of our riders.  But it was not a foregone conclusion since the peloton was riding very fast in anticipation of the finale.  Everything worked out fine in the end, but there were a few nervous minutes, that’s certain.”