On Sunday, IAM Cycling will take part in the final race of its existence. The Swiss professional team will fold at the end of the season after four wonderful years in the professional peloton.

“All of us will have a heavy heart for sure,” direcetur sportif Eddy Seigneur admitted.  “This will be the last team briefing, the last race where the beautiful IAM Cycling jersey will be present. But we will approach this race the same way we have approached every race this season. We’ll come with the ambition to win. To succeed in outmaneuvering the big sprinters teams will not be easy. We will have to opt for an aggressive tactic.”

“It always takes a bit of luck to win in a sprint. But with the high level of riders entered to contest Paris-Tours, it will take even more than that,” Jonas Van Genechten explained.

Since this race will be the last appointment before the World Championships in Doha, this autumn classic will attract the top sprinters who will be hoping to take an important victory on the Avenue de Grammont.

“The final will be very fast: the last three kilometers are dead straight,” Van Genechten continued. “This is an opportunity for the sprint trains to work together on their form before Doha. Paris-Tours is a race I've always wanted to win. And with it coming so close to the World Championships, there might be an opportunity there since some sprinters will not be willing to take any risks just the week before their Worlds goals.”

Even if this year’s course is devoid of any climbs, it nevertheless will prove to be tricky. Open and exposed to the wind for most of the 252.5 kilometers between Dreux and Tours, this will be an ideal course to try and create breaks and dangerous echelons in the peloton. “That undoubtedly will be the biggest danger,” Van Genechten confirmed.

“It could be very emotional,” Pirmin Lang conceded. “From start to finish, these moments will remain engraved on my memory. For this last race, my mission will be to help our sprinter Jonas Van Genenchten. Since I still have no contract for next season, I will give my maximum to have no regrets.”

Line-up

Stefan Denifl (Aus)

Martin Elmiger (S)

Roger Kluge (All)

Pirmin Lang (S)

Oliver Naesen (Bel)

Simon Pellaud (S)

Aleksejs Saramotins (Let)

Jonas Van Genechten (Bel)