29 June 2014
IAM Cycling
IAM Cycling won its first Swiss national road title in Roggliswil on Sunday.
Martin Elmiger (35) succeeded in winning the sprint ahead of opponents Michaël Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) and Steve Morabito (BMC) in front of his amicable boss, Michel Thétaz, the founder of IAM Cycling and CEO of IAMFUNDS.CH
Before celebrating his victory in the company of his teammates and members of staff, Elmiger talked about how he snagged his fourth national title, after he already won in 2001, 2005 and 2010.
I am the first to be surprised to have won this title. But it really was a reward for the constant work all the guys did throughout the day. We were present in every escape with Reto Hollenstein, Pirmin Lang and Sébastien Reichenbach. We all had to hang in there since the course was very hard. On the last lap, I was still with Marcel Wyss. And when Morabito and Albasini attacked, I went with them. Then I stayed on the right wheel so during the sprint up the false flat for the finish, I still managed to pass Michaël at the last minute. I am really happy for IAM Cycling and this will allow us to start the Tour de France with the maximum of confidence.
Michel Thétaz savored this victory for his Swiss team.
I want to highlight the work that all our guys did today. They were riding at their full effort for the entire race. And I practically burst with joy when the name of the winner came over on the radio. But I was really nervous in the last kilometer with BMC, Albasini and even Cancellara doing everything they could to win this race. Rubens Bertogliati acted as directeur sportif along with Marcello Albasini, and welcomed the happy outcome. On a demanding course, it was necessary to save energy in order to win. Martin Elmiger managed to win thanks to his deep experience. It will be wonderful to go to the Tour de France carrying the Swiss champions jersey in the team.
thank you @swisscycling for the race pictures – credits: Swiss Cycling / Steffen Müssiggang
