Tour of Britain Stage 5 – Matthias Brändle «One of the biggest wins of my career»

The main objective for IAM Cycling at the Tour of Britain has been met.  Matthias Brändle found the strength to join and power an early breakaway in the fifth stage of the race.  At the end, the Austrian rider managed to drop his three breakaway companions on the final climb three kilometers from the finish and solo in for the win.

This has been a great reward for the Swiss Pro Continental team that has been riding hard since the start of the race this past Sunday in Liverpool.  Further proof of their consistency is that Kevyn Ista (8^th) climbed into the top-10 and IAM Cycling leads the team classification.

After stepping down from the podium, Matthias Brändle did not have the words to describe the joy and satisfaction he felt.

“All victories are nice, but this one today is certainly one of the most important wins of my career.  My breakaway companions and I worked well together.“

”When the peloton started to bring us back at around 40 kilometers from the finish, we put the turbo on and rode à bloc until the foot of the climb.  When I jumped away on the last few percentages, I knew it was make or break.  I am really thrilled to have been able to cross the line with my arms raised.”

Eddy Seigneur, directeur sportif along with Kjell Carlström for the Tour of Britain, praised Brändle’s gusty ride.

“The victory is very timely for him.  Two days ago we met with him to discuss further the virtues of the collective.  Yesterday Matthias already seemed to take our guidelines to heart and now he is strictly following them.  Present in the break from the start of the day, he was able to economize his strength throughout the stage and then finished off his job in the most beautiful way.  We also defended our chances for the overall since Sylvain Chavanel and Sébastien Reichenbach, as well as Kevyn Ista and Jérôme Pineau all arrived with the same time as the group of favorites.”