27 July 2016
IAM Cycling
THE FACT OF THE DAY
Thanks to his victory in the final stage of the Tour de Wallonie, Dries Devenyns also managed to take the overall win at the last possible moment of this Belgian race. At the end of May, Devenyns also won the Baloise Belgium Tour in a similar fashion by taking a stage and the overall classification.
THE STATEMENT
As given by Dries Devenyns. I am very happy about this success. The last few weeks have not been easy since I had to abandon the Tour de Suisse and then could not start the Tour de France due to illness. Something else that is satisfying is how this victory came about today. I knew I felt good, and was probably one of the strongest in the field. Add to that the fact that the team performed exactly as we said we would in the team meeting this morning. We were able to be competitive in the final attacks, and made the tempo seriously hard for everyone else. And then I managed to finish off such strong teamwork with a good win.
THE ANALYSIS
Thierry Marichal, who was directeur sportif at the Tour de Wallonie along with Eddy Seigneur, was very satisfied with the double success for the team. Our tactic for today was planned exactly how it ended up being executed. We wanted to work for Dries Devenyns, so Dries was able to attack with two kilometers to the finish on the last climb. All said and done. The whole team worked hard, and did a great job. Even though Ettix-Quickstep made a strong impression throughout the day, we were able to turn the race in our favor in the final.
THE NUMBER
46 – Counting the stage victory and the overall classification triumph in the Tour de Wallonie by Dries Devenyns, IAM Cycling has already tallied 46 podiums since the beginning of the 2016 season. That is the total number of podiums the team took in the entire 2015 season. This also matches the number of victories (15) that IAM Cycling notched up all last season.
THE ANECDOTE
From Clément Chevrier and Jonas Van Genechten. The two professionals on the IAM Cycling team took part in a counter attack 30 kilometers from the finish in a four man break. In the course of their escape, the four racers took the correct direction around a large roundabout, while the hard-charging field took a shorter route and quickly crushed the lead of the escapees.
Race Pictures – TRW’Organisation
