Tour de l’Ain – Marco Bandiera: «I’m going to try my luck again»

“I have one stage, so I am going to try my luck.  In the curve with 350 meters to go, I was in about 10^th position, but I was still unable to move up to fight with the best for the victory.” 

Finishing an honest 21^th in the first stage of the Tour de l’Ain, Marco Bandiera was not looking for any excuses when evaluating his ride.  Called on by the IAM Cycling team to take a shot at the sprint, the Italian lacked the punch in the final straight where the Columbian Leonardo Duque (Colombia) grabbed the victory on the line ahead for riders like Nacer Bouhanni, Romain Bardet, Bryan Coquard and Yannick Martinez.  Prologue winner, Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma Quickstep), retained his leader’s jersey.

The pack allowed two escapees to show their jersey’s during the 156 kilometer stage between Lagnieu and Bourg-en-Bresse, however, the duo was reeled in with less than 20 kilometers to go.  From there, Johann Tschopp summarized the stage as having a “nervous final”.

Kevyn Ista (16th), who returned to racing at a high level after having sustained serious injury early in the season, had his eyes set on a podium finish as well.

“Matthias Brändle came back to the pack just under the flamme rouge.  And I found a good spot for myself, but was ultimately blocked in the final 90 degree corner.  From that moment, my race was over.  But I had good legs and am determined to use them wisely in the next stages that have promising finishes.”