IAM Cycling finally reaped the rewards of all the hard work they have done since the beginning of the 4 Days of Dunkirk. At the end of the longest stage of the race, Sylvain Chavanel succeeded in putting the cherry on top of the cake for the Swiss Pro Continental team.

 

“The Machine”, as he is called by those in the know, found the way and the strength to escape on the final climb up the Cap Blanc-Nez in the company of the young Dane Michaël Andersen (Tinkoff-Saxo). The two built a lead that held up, giving Chavanel the chance to sprint for the win.

 

The five-time time trial champion of France was missing only 2 seconds on the clock in order to take away the overall lead from Arnaud Démare.  But with his first victory in the colors of his new IAM Cycling team, Chavanel acclaimed the hard work that his teammates did on his behalf. Roger Kluge, Jérôme Pineau, Marcel Aregger and Kevyn Ista rode themselves inside out today.

 

Eddy Seigneur, who is directeur sportif at the race along with Mario Chiesa, confirmed this.

 

“I am very happy for him, but also proud of the team that showed such impressive collective strength.  While we are not automatically always so well oiled, today when placing Sylvain on his launching pad, we were perfect. 

 

"Then with his amazingly strong legs, and with the contribution from Michaël Andersen, he managed to outpace the pursuers. And there is nothing wrong with being 2nd overall when talking about the hardest stage of the week where there are no fewer than 15 climbs listed.”

 

Sylvain Chavanel is reassured that his health problems which disrupted his classics season are behind him, now that he has garnered the team’s third victory of the year, following Matteo Pelucchi (Tirreno-Adriatico) and Mathias Frank (Critérium International). 

 

“I suffered to get this victory on the most difficult stage of the week. From the start the conditions were hellish with the wind, pavés, small roads, rain and cold. But this is the racing I like.

 

"I am happy with my sprint even though I launched it from quite a ways out against the young rider who worked so well with me.  We came here to win a stage in Dunkirk.  We’ve done that, so now it’s time to look to the general classification.”