Good start for IAM Cycling at the Tour of Portugal

IAM Cycling kicked off the Tour of Portugal with the right foot by taking a promising 5th place in the opening prologue team time trial.

Raced over a technical 1 kilometer circuit that each team made five laps around, the team time trial proved the Dutch squad De Rijke-Shanks to be the strongest on the day with a winning time of 6’39”36.  As the first of his team to cross the line, the German cyclocross specialist Christoph Pfingsten will have the honor of wearing the race leader’s jersey for the first stage.

Marcello Albasini, who along with Kjell Carlstrom, will be the IAM Cycling directeur sportif for the race, did not want to split hairs.

“I was hoping for a little better, but we are less than 7 seconds off the winners’.  It was necessary that we adapt to this technical circuit that consisted of multiple turns, and had a slippery paving surface.  The heat was not the problem we expected since it was only 28-29 degrees.  It was an interesting experience for everyone.  Now we need to focus on Stage 1, which has a course running along the shoreline, and that will probably mean the wind will play an important role in the outcome.”