The Critérium International saw some great battles during the first day of the race under the hot sun of Corsica. The first half-stage resulted in a win for Ben King (Cannondale) after he had established himself in a long breakaway with Clément Saint-Martin (Marseille13) as a companion. The two men were able to keep their place in the overall classification after the second half-stage time trial, which was won by Fabio Felline (Trek Factory). 

Throughout the day, IAM Cycling found different sources of satisfaction following these two stages. Jonathan Fumeaux will be wearing the best climber’s jersey (as 3rd ranked in the classification), in spite of a puncture late in the stage that prevented him from finishing with the main bunch, which was in hot pursuit of the two escapees. And during the time trial stage, Mathias Frank (7th) and Stef Clement (8th), both put in encouraging performances ahead of the decisive stage that will climb to the summit of the col de L’Ospedale.

Taking time to analyze his performance on this beautiful spring day, Mathias Frank expressed satisfaction while admitting he has bigger ambitions. 

“I had some digestive problems on Wednesday, and I did not race the Classica Corsica. I recovered fairly quickly, though even this morning I was still not feeling 100% in the first half-stage. Luckily, in the very technical and fast time trial, I was able to find the right rhythm. This is encouraging because it’s important that I be ready to be at the front on the final climb tomorrow, where I managed to win the stage last year. I have not won anything yet this season, but the sensations are good.

“It will not be easy to shell Ben King, but other teams also have riders who are keen to make a play for the general classification. Personally, I’d love to win again at the top of the Ospedale climb to be completely reassured. Compared to last year, my data is better, but I’d like real-world confirmation. Then I can go and prepare for my first main goal of the year which will be the Tour of Romandy. I’ll be training at altitude in the Sierra Nevada beginning April 2nd.”

For his part, Rubens Bertogliati, the directeur sportif for the Swiss professional team, highlighted the performances of his riders in the time trial, but regretted the fact that no one from the team made it into the first stage’s breakaway. 

“Mathias Frank and Stef Clement both made it into the top-10 for the time trial, which bodes well for the future. But it will be difficult to play now for the general classification; of course, we are not the only ones who will be fighting to change the situation. It may be necessary to find alliances to swing the race in our favor. I am a little disappointed with the attitude shown this morning. Guys like Pirmin Lang and Patrick Schelling really should have made an effort to get into that break. I think they were afraid of not being able to keep up if the break ended up being caught.”