TDU Stage 6 – Roger Kluge: «Heino nearly had that win»

A strong will to win, good placing and all the hard work done by his IAM Cycling teammates unfortunately was not enough to give Heinrich Haussler the chance to celebrate his second victory of the year.  At the end of the 20 laps of a 4.5 km circuit through the streets of Adelaids, the Australian national road race champion was defeated narrowly by Wouter Wippert (Drapac).  Haussler had already racked up a 4^th and a 5^th place in previous stages.  The excellent results IAM Cycling has earned during its first WorldTour event of 2015 was also enhanced by the 9^th place in the general classification that the Colombian rider Jarlinson Pantano took behind overall winner Rohan Dennis (BMC).

Given the task to place Heinrich Haussler in the ideal position for the final sprint, Roger Kluge emphasized the excellent teamwork carried out by IAM Cycling throughout the entire week. 

“We really wanted to win this stage.  Everything was put into place on the last lap.  We carried out our instructions to the letter and even managed to avoid the mass pile up.  This time, Heino really wasn’t missing much for the win.  Blame it on bad luck, but we will be even stronger in Qatar in 15 days.” Kluge, who will participate in the world track Championship in France from February 18^th to the 22^nd, welcomed the new spirit prevailing in the team.  “There will be enough of us to ride for these sorts of finishes this year.  Last season, I was often alone in placing Heino.  In Australia, all the guys got their hands dirty for the designated leader of the day, and this has really paid off.  We even avoided the crashes, and Friday I avoided that huge pile up with a lot of luck.”

Before flying to Melbourne to participate next Sunday in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road, Kjell Carlström, the directeur sportif for IAM Cycling, heaped praise on his riders. 

“The victory did not fall to us today, but Wippert, coming from behind, had more speed.  There was nothing for Heino to do in these conditions.  But I can guarantee he wanted this victory as much as all the guys.  Everything was perfectly set up on the last lap where we managed also to avoid the big crash that happened just after a turn.  The guys really dug deep to put everything on our side.  In the end, we still took second in the final stage and we also did well in the general classification with Jarlinson Pantano finishing in the top-10.  A 9^th place overall for the first race of the season is encouraging.  During this week, the Colombian proved he could position himself perfectly in the peloton.”