Milan-Turin did not favor IAM Cycling

The finale of the Milan-Turin ended with the consecration of Diego Ulissi.  The puncheur on Lampre-Merida won with authority at the top of the Turin hills in front of the Basicila di Superga.

Though well placed at the bottom of the second ascent of this difficult 6 kilometer climb, the IAM Cycling riders were forced into fighting for the places of honor only.

Marcel Wyss explained the situation with his usual candor:

“Personally, I’d prefer a harder parcours before a summit finish like this.  Today we rode for more than 3 hours at 50 km/h, and so I did not feel comfortable when we had to drop back down into the small chainring.  But the form is good, and I am looking forward to the Tour of Lombardy.”

Sébastien Reichenbach and Jonathan Fumeaux also enjoyed a good day and are happy to be finishing up on Sunday.  Fumeaux was distanced with two kilometers to go.

“I had done a lot of work for placings at the bottom of the climb.  Then I was dropped.”  

His teammate Reichenbach rose to the challenge.

“I was going à bloc by the time we got to the flamme rouge and then the attacks started flying.  I am not yet ready to challenge effectively against such strong competition.  But we cannot wait to finish Sunday with the last race of the season.”

As for Johann Tschopp and his return to racing, he can look on with satisfaction at his progress.

“I managed to hold on long enough.  And I’m very glad to see that the work and effort I made at home in recovery has paid off.  This bodes well for next season and I hope to be able to help the team on Sunday at Lombardy.  For myself, I was really only missing another 15 days of training before I could count on being in peak form.  But it’s encouraging to be at this level now considering I so recently broke my collarbone.”