03 March 2013
IAM Cycling
At 37 minutes past 1 on Sunday afternoon, Marco Bandiera opens fire on the 71st edition of the Paris-Nice. In doing so, the 28 year old Italian will also open the IAM Cycling teams World Tour accounts. Holding a Pro Continental license, the only professional Swiss cycling team will participate in a World Tour event for the first time. Michel Thétaz founded IAM SA (Independent Asset Management SA) in 1995, and has long had a vision to put Switzerland at the heart of international cycling. His goal seems shortly to become a reality. By basing his cycling team around the same mottos on which he founded his company, in particular inpendence, passion, and commitment, Thétaz intends to help restore the image of a sport that has suffered many recent damaging events and set-backs. Since Michel Thétaz did not want to miss the first step on his teams progress towards prominence in the sport, he has joined the squad in Houilles (Yvelines) near Paris for the 2.9km prologue.
– Michel Thétaz, how are you coping with the situation ?
– We are starting our first World Tour event now, so there is a mix of emotion and excitement. We have been making steady progress to be ready for this moment. We have had several important races already this year where the team has been able to compete both physically and psychologically with the best riders in the world. The prologue of the Race to the Sun is the culmination of all the hard work the riders and the entire team have done in the recent months. We have brought a great group to the race, and can have real ambitions to win either a stage or even play a role in the fight for the General Classification.
– Can you explain what caused you and your company IAM, which specializes in asset management for pension funds, to take the leap and sponsor a professional cycling team ?
– Aside from the fact that I am myself a passionate cyclists, what makes the difference for a financial institution is to be active where you are least expected. I would like to apply that same recipe to our team. The public will want to see charismatic leaders and strong results from the riders. And it is already a positive sign that we are mentioned among the six teams vying to be awarded one of the last three invitations to participate in the 100th edition of the Tour de France.
– Could you speak about what will be your goals for the year?
– First, we will want to animate the races no matter what the terrain, as we have tried to do since our first race in the GP de La Marseillaise on January 27th. Ours is a team complete with opportunists who know how to fight for victories, as Gustav Larsson has already done for us at the Tour of Mediterranean. But I am also even more pleased to see that the young neo-professionals we have signed are putting in very strong and positive performances. For instance, Sébastien Reichenbach took 26th place on Saturday at the Strade Bianche, which means he finished ahead of someone as strong as Cadel Evans.
The stages
Sunday 3 March: Prologue in Houilles (2.9 km)
Monday 4 March: Saint-Germain-en-Laye Nemours (195 km)
Tuesday 5 March: Vimory Cérilly (200.5 km)
Wednesday 6 March: Châtel-Guyon Brioude (170.5 km)
Thursday 7 March: Brioude Saint-Valier (199.5 km)
The line-up
Marco Bandiera (It)
Stefan Denifl (Aut)
Martin Elmiger (S)
Heinrich Haussler (Aus)
Sébastien Hinault (Fr)
Gustav Larsson (Su)
Thomas Löfkvist (Su)
Johann Tschopp (S)
Manager sportif: Serge Beucherie.
Directeurs sportifs: Kjell Carlström, Eddy Seigneur.
