Sebastien Reichenbach put in a heroic performance in today's rainy and hard final stage of the Tour of Norway when he was the longest surviving member of the early break.  Having been caught by Maciej Paterski and Gerald Ciolek just 2km from the finish, the young Swiss still had enough left in the tank to finish fifth.

A promise kept! Jonathan Fumeaux already announced on Saturday night that the IAM Cycling team would try again to win the Tour of Norway on the final stage.

The team guided by Rubens Bertogliati and Kjell Carlström was determined to blow the race apart in an attempt to take the overall. And the six riders on the Swiss Pro Continental team came close to succeeding.

For some 30 kilometers, Sébastien Reichenbach became the virtual overall leader because he was a member of a strong breakaway. Though he was finally swept up with 5 kilometers to go in the race, Reichenbach still managed to finish 5th in a sprint won by Alexander Kristoff (Katusha).

Though Maciej Paterski (CCC Polsat) in the end won the overall, Rubens Bertogliati expressed satisfaction, highlighting Gustav Larsson’s 4th place overall and the fact that IAM Cycling won the team competition.

“Our riders have evolved into Vikings within a short week of racing. We really succeeded in reaching the goal of instilling confidence within the team. Considering this was a buildup race for most of the riders, this is a remarkable result. Today Sébastien Reichenbach took part in a long break, and then still had enough to have a go in the sprint for the win.”
 

For his part, Sébastien Reichenbach explained his personal goal before talking about his future objectives.

“I had been feeling very good on the queen stage Saturday. I had the heart to test myself today. I succeeded in making it into the break. Since the final circuit suited me, I attacked and was only caught by six riders with two kilometers to go. So I have been able to refine my condition for the Dauphiné, but now I need to take some time to recover.”