Last Thursday at the summit of the Coll d'Orient (5 km to 5%), ahead of Jonathan Fumeaux and Clement Chevrier, following on a huge effort by Mathias Frank, Jérôme Coppel succeeded in pocketing the 30 euros promised by the coach Marcello Albasini to the winner of the ultimate climb at the end of the Mallorca training camp for the IAM team. Coppel, the current time trial champion of France, promptly spent the reward by paying for his teammates’ drinks during the well-deserved coffee break after the mini-competition.

The surprise was Vegard Stake Laengen. The lanky Norwegian (195 cm) raised eyebrows when he beat Matthias Brändle, the former holder of the world hour record, by three seconds in a 11.5km time trial.

Hendrik Werner, one of the two coaches in charge of IAM Cycling’s sports performance along with Marcello Albasini, highlighted the good work that the riders did in the ten days of camp, which included two rest days, on the main Balearic Island. “With a total of 42 hours of ride time at an average speed of 33km/h, including over 16,000 of altitude change, we have met our goals and expectations.”

Before starting his season at the Ruta del Sol (17-21 February) Mathias Frank, already in good condition, will nevertheless take part in a training camp on the Canary Islands from January 30th to February 10th.

A small note: Of the four flats that the team had during the ten days on the roads of Mallorca, American rider Larry Warbasse can claim to have suffered a grand total of three of them.