Before Spain but after Poland, the seventeen WorldTour teams including IAM Cycling will be racing at the Eneco Tour.  As a stage race that straddles the Belgian and Dutch borders, it is the sort of event that favors sprinters, puncheurs, and rouleurs on account of the topography.

IAM Cycling has taken into account the particularities of the event to select eight of its riders who will be capable of strong performances with the chance of a stage win or even a classification jersey.  Aleksejs Saramotins will be on hand to give the Swiss team a lot of visibility in the second half of the season.  The Latvian, who now lives in Nice, is motivated to perform after a long training block. 

“I was very happy to win the road race and wear the jersey as the Latvian national champion after having missed out on it last year.  And I was also 2nd in the time trial.  Those results reassured me since I had had a long break after having raced a hard classics campaign and then of course the Tour of Italy, which was much more difficult than expected. 

"After these races, I returned to work and spent some long blocks of time at altitude in Livigno, but also at Bernina with my teammates and under the guidance and watchful eye of Marcello Albasini.  I returned to competition last Saturday for the Clasica San Sebastian.  I felt good, and I am sure that I can pull my weight well during this stage race. 

"Last year at this time, I was able to perform well at the Tour of Burgos, and even won the time trial.  The Eneco Tour has a time trial along the same lines, and there are other stages as well that should suit me.  I am focused on a place in the top-10 of the general classification.  But we also have seven other riders who are very capable of playing for a win on each stage. 

"The freshness of some combined with the experience of others should enable us to be at the center of the action and animate the stages, whether we are looking at finishes for the sprinters or the more punchy riders.”

Riders:

Marcel Aregger (S)

Matthias Brändle (Aut)

Dries Devenyns (Bel)

Heinrich Haussler (Aus)

Reto Hollenstein (S)

Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat)

David Tanner (Aus)

Jonas van Genechten (Bel)