Tour of Romandie – With Fumeaux and Pantano, IAM Cycling had a good day

Romandie has its favorites, those riders who seem to succeed here year after year, not unlike Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEDGE), who won the second stage between Apples and Saint-Imier.  But there are always those riders who surprise, or rather confirm their own ascendency, such as Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling), who took second place behind the Swiss Orica rider in the sprint.  Finally, there are the riders whose consistency is rewarded with the green jersey for the points classification, not to mention the red bib number which distinguishes the most combative. Or at least that was the case today for Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM Cycling), who flew the flag for the Swiss professional team over the course of a 145 kilometer breakaway.

Though the course that the stage the Tour of Romandie took on Wednesday was not a training route for Fumeaux, who hails from the Valais region of Switzerland, that did not prevent him from being able to anticipate and manage his strength perfectly throughout the day.  “It was a hilly course, so it was worth the effort to be at the front,” Fumeaux confirmed.  “Basically, I wanted to go for the King of the Mountain, but I was not alone, and it was not easy with a rider like Morkov, so I decided to go for the sprints.  It was a great day on the bike, and it feels wonderful to start the Tour of Romandie this way.  Tonight, I have the pleasure of the green jersey and I am very happy.  It was great to be in the front, because we are racing the Tour of Romandie, so it is one time a year that I can race in my home region.  Of course you must enjoy it.  As far as my condition goes, I think I’m doing pretty well.  It’s always hard to know really when you are in the front with just one other rider.  The legs hurt, but given the time we took out front, I don’t think it will be too bad.”

Jonathan Fumeaux was not the only IAM Cycling rider to have good sensations today.  With Mathias Frank and Stef Clement finishing solidly in the first group, not to mention Jarlinson Pantano actually sprinting for second place, the Swiss professional team has produced results on more than one front for this second day of racing in Romandie.  “It was a fast stage in the peloton,” Pantano said.  “I suffered a bit on the last climb, but I am happy with my result.  I know that when I arrive at the finish with a small group, I can contest the sprint.  Now we will regroup around Mathias Frank to try for a stage win as well as the overall classification.”

Second place for Pantano today only reaffirms the good results he has shown from the beginning of the year.  A complete rider, Pantano is able to compete on any terrain, a sentiment that his sports manager Rik Verbrugghe certainly shares: “I am not surprised by the outcome of Jarlinson’s sprint.  We suspected this morning that this finish would have a group maybe of forty riders at most, and we knew that Pantano could win or at least be very close in the sprint.  I knew he was going to be top-5 today.  He was able to beat nearly all of the best sprinters in this type of finish.  We have already seen in the Tour of Catalonia that he was able to perform well in a similar situation, so this is no surprise.  He is one of those Colombians who can climb, but also has an explosive kick.”