Marcel Wyss: From the Tour of Britain to Lombardy

The English sky finally decided to stop crying for this queen stage of the Tour of Britain.  For the first time since the Scottish departure, the 99 riders remaining in the race rode the stage between Sidmouth and Haytor without tasting a drop of rain.

And in the final 5 kilometer climb to the summit of the Dartmoor National Park, the favorites found a challenge that separated the good from the best.  In this effort, it was Simon Yates (Great Britain) who came out on top.

The IAM Cycling riders tried gallantly to take their chances on the climb, which allowed Martin Elmiger to net 2^nd place on the stage, which was more than enough to move him into 2^nd place in the overall classification.

“I had the legs to win.  For next time, my two teammates will have to learn to block in front of me.  This was a mistake that we made and must learn from.  In any case, I am satisfied with my spot and am pleased to have gained the points classification jersey at the same time.”

Sébastien Reichenbach is ready to earn himself another top 10 finish in a stage race with his 5^th place.

As for Marcel Wyss (9^th), missing out on being chosen for the Swiss team to be sent to Worlds in Florence has only encouraged his desire to prove his good form.

“I am disappointed not to be making the trip.  I had prepared carefully for the Worlds by training at altitude.  This extra training can be suspected for having caused me some problems in the first days of the Tour of Britain.  I did not feel comfortable in the rain, and it always takes a bit of time to adjust to sea level after having trained extensively at 2300 meters altitude.  I stayed in Männlichen.  Too bad they didn’t make the selection for the team after the finish of this race since my legs have felt really good since Thursday.  Today, the feeling was very good at the end again.  I tried my luck but Wiggins and the others worked their way back to us very quickly.  I’ll move on and turn the page, though.  I am ready in my head for the Tour of Lombardy.  I set it as an end of the season goal.” 

Wyss, who hails from the Swiss capital Bern, started his day Friday even earlier than everyone else, since he had a doping control conducted at the stroke of 6am.   Wyss does not complain.  “It is part of our jobs.  We must accept these obligations.  It is a bit of a pity that it did not happen an hour later, though, because I was unable to get back to sleep afterwards.  So I immersed myself in reading the race rankings to pass the time.”