Kjell Carlström: «IAM Cycling is strong at this Tour of Britain»

The Tour of Britain arrived in the London suburbs on the eve of the final loop laid out around the center of the city, which will most likely be an honor lap for Sir Bradley Wiggins, who will all but certainly be the winner of the 10^th edition of the event.  The ten laps over the Sunday loop will hardly be tough enough to change anything at the top of the classification, barring any accident.

Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif for IAM Cycling alongside Rubens Bertogliati, analyzed the performance of his riders since last Sunday in Peebles with a classically cool Scandinavian insight.

“IAM Cycling has been really strong at the Tour of Britain.  Every day the guys were playing a big role in the unfolding of the stages and getting close to the top of the leader board.  It is not necessary to get a lot of wins.  We have been on the podium a lot and have pushed the Team Sky throughout the week.  Unfortunately, Thomas Löfkvist, who was one of our big leaders for the race, fell ill early on and had to go home.  But I definitely noticed that Matteo Pelucchi was strong in the sprints, Heinrich Haussler had great legs and was not far from winning a stage, not to mention how fantastically consistent Martin Elmiger has been.  We should also recognize that Sébastien Reichenbach and Marcel Wyss have worked hard to protect Elmiger while still keeping with the lead group at the end of the tougher stages.  We will finish as the 2^nd best team in the standings, Elmiger will finish in 2^nd place overall and may even come away with the points classification.  Things could be worse, couldn’t they?”

For his part, Matteo Pelucchi admitted to being helpless against the collective strength of Omega Pharma-Quickstep when running into the finish at Guildford, which helped Mark Cavendish earn his second stage win of the race.  The Italian accepted his 6^th place for the day with a certain resignation.

“It was a mission impossible to try and beat Cavendish today, even with the help of Heinrich Haussler and Marcel Wyss.  I went into the last turn in 9^th place, so I was too far back even if I had the snap in the legs.”