As usual, Paris-Nice is the first big target for Sylvain Chavanel and he got his race off to a great start yesterday. The Frenchman showed great awareness when he sprinted to a bonus second in the final intermediate sprint and most of his IAM team made the split that occurred in the finale.

“There was everything we needed on this first day with the sun, heat and especially the luck of the draw which placed Eddy Seigneur and the team car as the first car in the race caravan.”

Having come to the first stage to encourage and support his troops, Michel Thétaz, the general manager and founder of IAM Cycling, positively radiated satisfaction before heading off to return to Geneva.  Sylvain Chavanel, the team leader, did everything to remain well placed in the overall, while the stage victory went to Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) in the mass sprint. 

Michel Thétaz appreciated the good work put in by his riders. 

“There was of course nervousness in the face of this fast, technical and sometimes dangerous course punctuated by bottlenecks.  This became even more apparent in the final portion of the stage where a large crash occurred and cut the peloton in half. 

"Sébastien Hinault crashed, but does not seemed to have suffered anything more serious than losing seven minutes, while Aleksejs Saramotins was also delayed by the pile up.  But the others were well placed and able to protect our leader, Sylvain Chavanel, which insured that he would finish with the main pack.” 

Michel Thétaz has already promised to rejoin the team in Nice in a week’s time in order to celebrate a great victory. 

“Sylvain Chavanel is wound up like a top.  He even took part in the intermediate sprint and grabbed an extra second there.  Who knows, that might prove to be the difference next Sunday.  I was so pleased to see how well the guys work together.  Today I can safely say that so far our mission at Paris-Nice has been accomplished.”

You can read our preview of today's stage here and follow it on CyclingQuotes.com/live from 14.25 CET.