Tour of Austria – Stage 3 – Thomas Degand – I will do everything I can to protect Stefan Denifl and preserve his strength as much as possible –

IAM Cycling’s winning streak at the Tour of Austria ended on Tuesday in Gratwein-Strassengel.  Or perhaps it was just momentarily paused.  The BMC Racing Team took up the torch with a successful sprint by Rik Zabel (BMC).  The young German won out of a group of around 60 riders, ahead of Angel Vicioso (Katusha) and Jan Tratnik (Amplatz-BMC).  And even if the riders from the Swiss professional team did not come away with the victory bouquet today, they can still be very satisfied with a successful day of racing and a good result in the general classification.  Protected by many of his teammates, Stefan Denifl lost no time and remains in a perfect position ahead of Wednesday’s entry into the more mountainous days.

Thomas Degand talked after the stage of a difficult day for the whole peloton.  “It was very hot again today,” the Belgian Degand explained.  “At one point my SRM computer showed that it was 44 degrees Celsius, so it was very challenging.  And then there were two climbs at the beginning of the stage that also added to the difficulty of the day.  Near the end, a small group broke away, so we took our responsibility in the bunch to get it back, but unfortunately it ended in a bunch sprint.  Personally, I’m not feeling too bad, but the instructions are clear: we must protect our leader, Stefan Denifl, for the general classification. So for me tomorrow, I will do my maximum to protect and preserve his strength as much as possible on the last climb and until the finish.”

The team’s protected rider Stefan Denifl does not intend to wait and see.  The IAM Cycling team understands this and will not just bide their time in the bunch.  “We know that Stefan has the capabilities to do well in this race,” Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif along with Thierry Marichal, confided.  “But on Wednesday, a breakaway could likely stay away until the end.  So we will be vigilant, but also opportunistic because we cannot bear the full weight of controlling the race all day.”