23 February 2014
IAM Cycling
The Tour of Oman finished in a bunch sprint again, on another stage where the sprinters found the perfect terrain to prove their craft. In the end, it was André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) who showed himself to be the smartest and the fastest. This did not take anything away from Christopher Froome who came out on top overall and will take the read leaders jersey home for the second straight year.
After a painful week, both physically and psychologically following the tragic death of Kristof Goddaert, IAM Cycling returned to Switzerland with a feeling of accomplishment.
Kjell Carlström, the directeur sportif in charge of the team for the race, confirmed this:
In this final stage we did try to do something to get a result. But the guys have struggled to find the extra push. Consequently, there is no surprise that we couldnt pull out the win against well-oiled teams like Lotto, FDJ and the others. Aside from that, four of our riders have come down with colds this week. But above all I want to emphasis the human values that the whole group displayed. The riders and the staff were welded together and formed a united group in the face of adversity. Nevertheless, it is still very difficult to perform at the top level of the sport when ones mind is not fully engaged in the task.
For his part, Martin Elmiger, the road captain along with Sébastien Hinault, also emphasized the teams excellent determination throughout the race.
There was an incredible solidarity and everyone put himself at the service of the others. As soon as we decided to continue the event, we were all ready to toe the line and help our teammates. We leave Oman without having won anything or even taking a place in the top three on a stage, but I am proud of what we have achieved. There were teams from the World Tour and they brought many of their stars.
However, the 35 year old rider from Zug in central Switzerland, did not shield himself from criticism.
Personally, I did not ride as well as I had hoped. If I wasnt too bad in Qatar, I really was missing a gear in Oman. I managed to give a helping hand to our leaders, but I never felt good myself. I hope this setback will be only temporary. Ill have to recover as quickly as possible since Im already at it again next Saturday at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (formerly the Het Volk).
