One must hope that the IAM Cycling team has had all of its bad luck at once.  Having had a particularly disastrous stage on Sunday, the Swiss team was once again in the limelight, but this time for a positive reason.

Thumbing his nose at the mischance that struck the team the day before, Sylvain Chavanel proved to be a prime animator for the day and spent much of the stage off the front.  True to the attacking spirit of IAM Cycling, the Frenchman saw his efforts rewarded by being singled out as the most combative of the day, and reaped his reward once arriving in the streets of Malaga. 

“There was something to try today," he said. "I thought about the polka-dot jersey but by finishing only 4th in the 1st category climb, it was not possible. Later, after a good descent, we were only 1:30 ahead of he peloton. I’m one of those who decided to call it a day. There was no chance and I preferred to save some energy for the days to come.”

In addition to that, The Swiss team even had some skin in the game when it came to the final sprint for victory.  Though Peter Sagan (Tinkoff - Saxo) took the stage, Vicente Reynes proved he was in tiptop condition for IAM Cycling by taking 9th place in the super–fast finish.   

Spain has proved to be fertile hunting ground for Reynes, who comes from Mallorca.  He has taken second in two stages in past Vueltas (in 2011 and 2014), and for this edition, Reynes is looking to re-find his best sensations.  But before thinking seriously about a victory, Reynes is content to improve and get closer, little by little.  

“I have to be honest, this sprint for the third stage was a little too hard for me.  There was a lot of tough rolling terrain, and the peloton was stretched out, so the winner had to have a lot of strength to be able to overcome everything.  However, Tuesday’s stage profile should suit me much more. 

"Going for the sprint today was a good way to get back in the mood, to regain some of the sensations.  I feel good and I am very motivated to have a good result here in Spain.  Sunday, we suffered a lot of misfortune.  But I hope with all my heart that this success will flip the switch for us, and signal some better luck in the next few days.”

Audacity is also a hallmark of the IAM Cycling team.  Though cut to the quick the day before, Michel Thétaz’s team wants nothing better than to take back some of its own on the roads of Spain.  Eddy Seigneur, directeur sportif along with Mario Chiesa, explained: 

“Crashes are a part of cycling, so we do not want revenge necessarily, but rather to show our strengths.  We came to this Vuelta to be aggressive every day. 

"Our plans maybe have changed as to how to accomplish that, especially with Matteo Pelucchi abandoning.  Had he been still in the race, today, we certainly would have ridden for him exclusively.  But without him, we went on the attack with Sylvain Chavanel.  He proved that he was able to be up front in spite of having crashed himself yesterday. 

"And then with Vicente Reynes getting a 9th place on the stage gives us our first top-10 of this Vuelta.  Although we did not have the best specialists to place him, Vincente still managed to find an opening a get a good result. 

"We want to attack every day depending on the terrain.  We have riders who can influence the race, no matter the profile, so we’ll be aggressive, though not stupidly so.  On a completely flat stage, I am not going to ask them to ride.  We must also husband our resources since there are still over two and a half weeks to get through.  Our efforts will be calculated and oriented towards getting our stage victory.”