Perfectly organized at Chalet-à-Gobet by the Velo Club Chailly, the Swiss national time trial championships found a worthy winner in Silvan Dillier (BMC) in the category of international elites.  Dillier, from the German part of Switzerland, took the prize ahead of his six opponents, though frequent winner in this discipline, Fabian Cancellara, was not among them.  IAM Cycling’s afternoon ended on a positive note since Reto Hollenstein took the silver medal.

When asked to discuss his day, the affable Hollenstein, who comes from the Thurgau region of the country, decidedly kept his feet on the ground even though he came very close to the victory. 

“There was nothing more I could have done.  I found this out-and-back stressful.  I gave my all on a course that proved to be very demanding.  You had constant changes in speed, but I still managed to find a good rhythm.  It certainly was good training for the coming weeks, but also for the Swiss national road race that is scheduled for Sunday.  I felt good, and I think I can say that I am ready for the start of the Tour de France, even though there are still ten days to go before le Grand Départ.”

Marcello Albasini, the directeur sportif for IAM Cycling along with Rubens Bertogliati, was very satisfied with the outcome of this challenging race. 

“Reto Hollenstein was able to put his enormous power to good use on this circuit, which had brief climbs succeeded by descents.  However, I immediately saw that Marcel Wyss was not on a great day.  For the other young guys, it was important that they gain the experience for future events of this nature.  But it should be noted that Patrick Schelling put in a particularly good performance today.”