IAM had hoped to prove themselves worthy of their Tour de France invitation by doing a good GC with Mathias Frank but the Swiss crashed out of the race in the first half. Instead, the team rode aggressively and is pleased with its performance in its debut at the race.

The 101st edition of the Tour de France finished with a battle between the sprinters on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.  On the most beautiful avenue in the world, it was Marcel Kittel (Giant Shimano) who once again proved his dominance in fast finishes, while Vincenzo Nibali succeeded in bringing his yellow jersey safely across the line to add a Tour de France victory to his other two grand tour successes in Italy and Spain.
 
IAM Cycling finished its first grand tour proud to have shown its jersey so well in the peloton throughout the three weeks.  Sylvain Chavanel, an excellent 8th in the time trial Saturday, went first on the attack once the pack hit the Champs-Elysées.  But the French time trial champion had no help in his attempt to split from the group and was quickly reabsorbed after having made a tour around the course at an average of 60km/h.  As for Martin Elmiger, he unfortunately shredded his Swiss champion’s jersey when he hit the pavé. 

Michel Thétaz, the founder of IAM Cycling and CEO of IAMFUNDS.CH, joined his team for the post-race celebrations and applauded his riders’ performance in spite of the early loss of the general classifications leader for the team, Mathias Frank.  Thétaz, however, did not hide his desire to improve upon their efforts and results in 2015. 

“The record for the team is excellent, with the added bonus of seeing Sylvain Chavanel fighting for a win on the Champs-Elysées.  Though we lost our leader Mathias Frank, riders like Chavanel, Elmiger, Pineau and Haussler, with the help of all their teammates, focused a bright light on the IAM Cycling colors and proved that the organizers did not waste the invitation that they gave us.  

"On top of that, our time at the Tour de France has redoubled our desire to improve.  We must refine how well we work together as a team and make some changes in order to be more competitive next year.”