Martin Elmiger takes 2nd in Swiss National Road Race Championships

“We have not lost the national title, but rather won 2nd place.”

Close to his offices in Geneva, Michel Thétaz, founder of IAM Cycling as well as IAM SA (IAM Investment Funds), refused to mourn about his riders coming up one place short of the victory over a demanding circuit around Satigny.

In front of a large enthusiastic crowd, the 2013 Swiss Road race championships were ultimately won by Michael Schär (BMC).  The BMC man from Bern won the sprint ahead of Martin Elmiger.  Martin Kohler (BMC) then took the sprint for 3^rd in front of Elmiger’s IAM Cycling teammate, Reto Hollenstein.  Johann Tschopp took 8^th place after having been in a solo break for 30 kilometers.

Tschopp did not regret his gamble.

“I escaped to force BMC’s hand.  But there was a lot of headwind and much of the circuit was little suited to my specialties.  Faced with the sort of competition offered by BMC as well as Rast, Cancellara and Albasini, I was easy prey.”

Marcello Albasini praised the excellent job his riders did.

“In a national championship like this, it takes a great deal of good luck.  The guys acted perfectly.  Johann Tschopp forced BMC to work.  Too bad Martin Elmiger was not able to take the sprint, but in the last two laps he was never able to come through to relay.”

Elmiger, who recently became a father, was happy with how he raced, though admittedly a bit disappointed to come away with 2^nd place.

“At first I did not get in the right group and had to chase back to the breakaway almost single-handed.  That cost me a lot of strength I could have used in the finale.  I stayed calm.  My other teammates were attacking to try and keep Cancellara from being there at the sprint.  That’s how Johann Tschopp’s breakaway proved to be so useful.  But when Michael Schär took off, I was only able to sit on his wheel the last three laps.  This means he really deserved the win.”

At other national championships, IAM Cycling riders also excelled.

Aleksejs Saramotins became the national champion of Latvia while Stefan Denifl won the silver medal in Austria.

Toutes les photos des Championnats Suisses de Cyclisme sur Route de Satigny 2013