09 October 2013
IAM Cycling
The applause from their teammates rang out on the bus. Johann Tschopp and Stefan Denifl ended up being celebrated by their teammates as the only IAM Cycling riders to finish the Tour of Lombardy, which suffered apocalyptic weather, but nevertheless was won masterfully by defending champion Joachim Rodriguez (Katusha).
Tschopp, who was able to eke out a 26th place in his first World Tour event after coming back from injury, appreciated the gesture from the squad, and summed up his day in one sentence:
Ive never sh*t that many times in my pants on one single race.
His jocular remark was met with grateful laughter. Then Tschopp expanded on his feelings.
I had really good legs and managed to overcome my fear on the descents. I did stay with the best. And there is nothing like that sort of accomplishment in this sort of race to help regain confidence after my crash in the Tour de lAin where I broke my collarbone on a descent. To finish the season this way will certainly help me for next year. But I did see my limitations as a result of the lack of competition, when the guys were accelerating on the most difficult sections close to the finale. I was just not explosive enough, even though the gradient normally would suit me well.
While Tschopp savored his result, the rest of IAM Cycling can quite easily classify this race as something of a nightmare taking place in the gray and rain-soaked Lombardy region.
Jonathan Fumeaux hit the ground hard and his slide was only stopped by a retaining wall; his entire right side was torn and bruised, especially his elbow.
Marcel Wyss, who was riding well enough that he nearly made contact with Thomas Voeckler when he was leading the race, fell hard twice on his left side.
Sébastien Reichenbach, who was riding strongly and feeling very much at his ease, crashed with Vicenzo Nibali and lost all chances of figuring in the race since his entire left side was torn and bruised.
Stefan Denifl then also hit the pavement while he was in the group of favorites late in the race.
As for Thomas Löfkvist, he inopportunely suffered the first broken spoke of the season, which kept him delayed too long in the caravan to hope to have the chance to show his form and make any sort of impact in the race.
Suffice it to say that their first Tour of Lombardy will not go down in history as an auspicious occasion for the IAM Cycling team.
