IAM saw their plans for the Tour de France being ruined when Mathias Frank crashed out of the race. Having come close to a victory in yesterday's stage, the team is still hopeful that they will be able to take that elusive victory in the final week.
IAM Cycling justly savored their second Tour de France rest day on the outskirts of Béziers. After taking a thirty kilometer training ride to spin the legs, the riders were given the chance to recover some of the strength they’ve lost since leaving Leeds. The team also enjoyed a visit from Michel Thétaz, the founder of IAM Cycling and the CEO of IAMFUNDS.CH, who came to congratulate and encourage all the riders for the strong showing they have made in their first participation in La Grande Boucle.
Upon his initial assessment, Michel Thétaz welcomed the team’s performance and race initiative that it has shown since the abandonment of Mathias Frank, who came to the race as the team’s sole leader for the general classification.
“I am still under the influence of emotion that I felt while watching Martin Elmiger almost win and then seeing how close Heinrich Haussler came to a win himself with that brilliant second place in an extraordinary sprint. In fact, what we saw on the stage to Nimes is what I have wanted to see from the team all Tour despite the loss of Mathias Frank who fractured his femur in a crash at Nancy.
"Enthusiasm, discipline and motivation are all keywords for IAM Cycling. In addition to this satisfaction, we would like for the opportunism that finds us in breakaways to end also with a stage win. That would be a great way to underline our qualities.
"But we would also like to refine our strategy for the 2015 team in order to improve our riders, as well as our coaching and sports management. If we improve our opportunism, disciple and how well we make it to Paris, then we will have achieved our goals.”
Michel Thétaz also spoke about how the sponsor IAM SA has benefited from the team.
“Regarding IAM SA, honestly, it would be hard to be happier with the situation. We see the benefits in terms of credibility, we see the returns, the press; we see the increased awareness and enthusiastic friends. This allows us to develop medium-term lines of business. In other words, we can count on a wider knowledge of our company by the public, and that they will know what IAM is, what IAM can do, where IAM can add value in everyday life, and not just in cycling.”
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