23 September 2013
IAM Cycling
For its first year racing in the professional peloton, IAM Cycling decided to waive its chance to participate in the team time trial at the World Championships.
This does not mean that the Swiss Pro Continental team will be unrepresented at the Worlds events to take place in Tuscany.
Gustav Larsson, Reto Hollenstein and Matthias Brändle will take part in the 57.9 kilometer individual time trial on Wednesday.
And on Sunday Martin Elmiger, Sébastien Reichenbach, Matthias Brändle, Stefan Denifl, Aleksejs Saramotins and Thomas Löfkvist will line up for their respective federations instead of the blue and white team jerseys of Michel Thétazs IAM Cycling; they will be facing one of the hardest Worlds courses in a decade with 272.2 kilometers containing 5000 meters worth of climbing.
Before these two important events coming this week in Tuscany, team manager Serge Beucherie talks about one of the major appointments for the year.
Serge Beucherie, what do you think of the fact that there are eight IAM Cycling riders racing for their national teams this week in Florence?
I am not surprised. Worlds is a showcase for the whole season. We have recruited the best possible riders for our team. And we have riders of nine different nationalities, in addition to our Swiss riders.
Will you be at the events in Florence?
I will go there with Michel Thétaz the teams founder and CEO of IAM SA (IAM Investment Funds) for the weekend race, but during the week, Marcello Albasini, Kjell Carlström and Rubens Bertogliati, our sports directors will be on hand. Florence is a must for these next days. It will be the living room of professional cycling where everyone in the industry, including the members of the UCI, will spend at least a couple of days. Our team mechanic Jonathan Fazan and our assistant Alex Usov will also be serving the members of the Swiss Cycling team for the occasion.
How is your contact with the national federation?
We have accepted the request for assistance from the Swiss Cycling Federation. This is also done regularly in other countries. In fact, the mechanic moves with the truck that contains the materials for all our IAM Cycling riders. Then the assistants from the other nations come to our truck to collect the bikes for their athletes. And our assistant will give the massages and handle the supplies for the Swiss riders.
Are the World Championships a burden for the riders?
This is a one day race where anything can happen and the guys wear their national jerseys with pride. I personally participated in the World Championships in Prague in 1981. At the time I was a teammate of Sean Kelly on the trade team, but on that day I rode myself inside out for Bernard Hinault.
What is your opinion of the non-selection of Marcel Wyss for the Swiss team, in spite of the fact that he has had excellent results at the Tour of Britain?
Although Marcel Wyss certainly deserved a place, we did not intervene. We respected the decision of the coach. We are very familiar with the difficulty of making team selections, and the decisions are often painful. Marcel can and should be disappointed. He should then channel his disappointment into making the most of the end of his season, especially at the Tour of Lombardy.
More about the World Championships 2013 toscana2013.it / @Toscana2013
Everything about the Swiss Cycling Federation swiss-cycling.ch / @SwissCycling
