Having had to abandon the Tour de France due to illness, Heinrich Haussler made a solid return to sprinting when he finished 8th in the first stage of the Tour of Britain. With good legs, the Austrian is optimistic for the upcoming stages.

IAM Cycling avoided all the traps of the 13 kilometer circuit around the streets of Liverpool, which the Tour of Britain tackled eight times.  Though Marcel Kittel (Giant Shimano) won the sprint and donned the first leader’s jersey of the race, IAM Cycling’s Heinrich Haussler powered his way to an encouraging 8th place.
 
Haussler was not too disappointed with the top-10 result which represents his true comeback after having had to leave the Tour de France in the final week due to illness. 

“The stage was fast and nervous.  I felt pretty good throughout.  We managed to avoid the crashes.  The team helped me a lot and put me in a good position.  But I was too far back to expect to do better, particularly once the sprint was really launched. 

"The legs are good and my freshness should prove to be an asset during the coming week.  Anyway, we will do everything we can to set up Sylvain Chavanel with a chance to win.”
 
Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif along with Eddy Seigneur for this one week race, confirmed Haussler’s take on the day. 

“The sprint was very difficult because everyone had checked this stage.  It was practically a criterium.  And we tried to launch Heinrich Haussler effectively. 

"All the guys managed to avoid the crashes and to finish in the main bunch.  There will be other chances for us, including tomorrow’s stage which could go to either a puncheur or to a sprinter.”