15 February 2013
IAM Cycling
Hi Marcel, how are you?
Very good thanks, we had a hard week of training in South of France at the beginning of the month and I took a little bit of rest after that last week. I couldn’t think of a better preparation for the race coming up tomorrow, the Tour du Haut-Var.
Was the training camp specific for the Tour du Haut-Var race?
Not only. Alex Pliuschin, Marcel Aregger, Patrick Schelling and Sébastien Reichenbach were with me on that camp under the authority of Marcello Albasini, one of our Sport Director.
But yes, it was also a great opportunity to prepare for the race – I much appreciated the work we did with the “behind the car” sessions, these 60 Km/H rides on flat are always good for the legs! But more then anything else, we had a chance to ride some of the stages of the Tour du Haut-Var and knowing all these routes details, where to attack and so on will definitely give us a great advantage for the race.
Being a Swiss rider you already knew Marcello Albasini right?
Yes, I had the pleasure to train with him on different occasions in the past. This time he told me it would be a “hard one” and he was right! That’s what I like with his style of training – I would call it the Swiss Army style – Marcello always explains precisely why we are doing this exercise or another and he’s always open to talk about it and exchange on the programs. He has a lot of experience and knows exactly the needs of every rider.
Talking about other riders, how was the team spirit during the camp?
Well, once again, we were all young riders during this camp and we could feel we were all sharing the same goals and mentality, that’s another thing I like with the IAM Cycling team.
I also have to say that Antoine the mechanic and Gianni the masseur did a great job – when we are training like this in little groups we don’t have all the infrastructure we get when we are on races or bigger camps – everyone has to adapt and that also builds the team spirit.
Being the oldest rider, would you say you were the “big brother” of the bunch?
I would prefer to call it the “voice of Marcello”. Yes, it’s a fact, even if I’m still young, I was maybe the rider with most experience in the group, but Marcello was the real boss of course. As we didn’t took the radios with us, he would explain the routes and plans for the day in the morning and I would then lead the group, but that was very “practical” I would say.
What are your feelings for tomorrow’s race, the Tour du Haut-Var?
I know I’ll be working for our leader but in case of a breakaway I’ll take my chances too. I’m very confident, we’re lining up a strong team, we did a precise work of preparation and I feel very good – it couldn’t be better, I am super motivated!
Thank you for your time Marcel and all the best for those two days!
Thanks, yo can trust us to give the best!
