It rained more than once on the fifth stage of the Tour of Britain. The appalling conditions have forced Thomas Löfkvist, who has been a victim of a cold since the beginning of the race in Peebles, abandoned from the race before today’s stage hit the first of four categorized climbs. 

This did not prevent the remaining five IAM Cycling riders to go once again for the win while also succeeding in defending the 3rd place overall of Martin Elmiger. Not only that, but Elmiger managed to grab a 3rd place on the stage which was won by Sam Bennett (An Post Chainreaction). Sébastien Reichenbach, took a strong 8th place on the day, in the wake of overall leader, Bradley Wiggins. Yesterday he received the message that he would be going with the Swiss team to Florence for the World Championships (on September 29th).

“Being selected for the Worlds team is a great reward. At the beginning of my first season in the pros, I had not counted on being able to participate in the World Championships. Therefore, I couldn’t be happier.”

The Swiss’ smile and good humour is often what has kept him going all season, even in difficult times. Constraints like the requisite doping controls and the Adams update system (the program by which the daily movement of cyclists is monitored) cannot tarnish his contentment. 

“It’s sort of a marriage of convenience that I agreed to when I arrived in the professional peloton.  It just takes a little discipline, and I follow the advice of the veterans so as not to make any mistakes.  The only real problem is that I can never drop out of sight and go backpacking on vacation while I’m on tour.”

In fact, all professional riders must complete a computerized file to give their whereabouts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Mandated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and conducted by the UCI, controllers can demand samples between 6 am and 10 pm every day at the rider’s home.  Sébastien Reichenbach sympathetically explains how that works in reality.

“I have to complete a file quarterly or I can write every day where I will be staying, and I can even make daily changes if necessary.  I give the controllers the time I will definitely be home (7-8am), before I go training, typically between 10am and 4pm.  If a controller comes at those hours, then I am not susceptible to being warned.  When I am racing, it is the IAM Cycling directeur sportif’s job to keep the controllers informed of where we are staying.  Personally, I do not find it very problematic.  This is part of my job, and I’ve never forgotten to complete the form.  I do it at home on my computer even though there is a mobile phone app for it, but it is not really very practical.  This year, I have had three out of competition tests (blood + urine), both when I have been at home and also when I was with the team at their Majorca training camp.  The races have only been controlling the urine, and I have been twice to the control camper located just after the finish line of every race,” Reichenbach said.