12 February 2016
IAM Cycling
THE ANALYSIS
The Alto de las Peñas Blancas presents 15 kilometers of climbing with ramps up to 14%. This final climb of the Ruta del Sol will allow no excuses Mathias Frank ensures. On a long climb, you cannot cheat. This is an excellent place to test my condition. I do not know the Ruta del Sol, but I am sure it will be an excellent place to prepare for the month of March.
THE PROFESSIONAL
This year I have tried a new approach in my preparation, Mathias Frank admitted. I decided to take part in a training camp that lasted ten days on the Canary Islands. That means I have started racing a touch later than usual. This has allowed me to accumulate many hours of quality training. It always takes me a little longer to get into shape than it takes the others. Those days I spent under the Spanish sun allowed me to acquire a good base.
THE CHALLENGE
We are coming to the Ruta del Sol to be active in all the stages, explains Lionel Marie, directeur sportif alongside Mario Chiesa for IAM Cycling at the Spanish event. Thanks to the varied profile of the race, all components of the IAM Cycling squad can be developed. Our approach will be really to give everyone his chance. Obviously, Im thinking that Jérôme Coppel will be our man for the time trial. Then we will have David Tanner and Martin Elmiger for the transition stages. The last mountain stage will be for the pure climbers, and thats when well be looking to Oliver Zaugg and Mathias Frank. The season is just beginning, and everyone will like to get on the score card early. In my view, this event is an ideal initial test for Mathias Frank. The team will have a chance to use this as an excellent block of work before starting the periodwith our early big objectives: Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
LINE-UP Ruta del Sol
