IAM Cycling was unable to repeat Sylvain Chavanel’s 2014 victory at the GP Ouest France Plouay, which is traditionally raced on the last Sunday of August.

Since Chavanel is currently racing the Vuelta, the multiple time trial champion of France willed his number 1 bib number to teammate Clément Chevrier. However, the neo-pro from France was no match for the sprinters who typically find this race as a prime opportunity.

Accordingly, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) proved his speed by taking an emphatic victory at the end of the long finishing straight. The Swiss professional team came with the intentions of fighting to put its prime puncheur Heinrich Haussler in a position to win, but did not in the end manage to put the Australian champion on the right track. 

He did earn 13th place, which proves he had strong legs for the event. Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif for the team at the race, was keen to analyze the race which is made difficult mainly through the repetition of the climbs as well as by the final bump that kicks up for the finish. Overall he was satisfied with his squad. 

“I saw a team united and working together. They followed the directions we had given them at the morning meeting. Everything went well after the early break was brought back, and we did a lot of work to help control the pack against new attacks from other teams.

"In the final lap, Devenyns was responsible for taking care of Heinrich Haussler, putting him in a good position before the final steep climb and then it was Elmiger who ushered him through to the final straight.

“Unfortunately we were just missing some power to give Heino the help he really needed at the time of the sprint. We were just missing that final push to help Heino at the end. Our other sprinters, Jonas Vangenechten and Sondre Holst Enger had cracked before the final climb, and were not there for the lead-out. So despite his good legs, it was impossible for Haussler to play for the win, since he had to fend for himself and was forced to brake to avoid the crash in the sprint. Racing at this level is unforgiving.”