Vuelta al País Vasco – Stage 2 – Sébastien Reichenbach «Spending a day at the front is always great training»

After the bitter taste that the first difficult stage left in the mouths of IAM Cycling, the second stage ended up having a pervasive feeling of revenge. The peloton, and especially IAM Cycling, had the heart to ride hard in this second day of racing in order to end on a good note.  After a less destructive arrival in Bilbao, Fabio Felline (Trek Factory) came away with the victory. For the Swiss professional team, their satisfaction was twofold: David Tanner managed a 12th place in the sprint, while the presence of Sébastien Reichenbach in the day’s main break also afforded a certain amount of satisfaction.

Nevertheless, it was not an easy job to get into a position to win this final sprint.  With a nervous and completely flat finish, an all-out investment was essential to be in a position to win today.  “I tried to do the sprint,” David Tanner said.  “I knew the finish very well for the stage.  So I wanted to do something since I felt pretty good.  I tried to position myself well for the final straight.  I came up with 12th, so things are improving.  I’m satisfied.”

Tanner, one of IAM Cycling’s Australian riders, was not the only IAM jersey to figure prominently in the stage between Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz. Sébastien Reichenbach gave Michel Thétaz’s team a long-term presence at the pointy end of the race for much of the day by getting himself into the main breakaway. Though they were hauled in 15 kilometers from the finish, Reichenbach, who comes from the Valais region in Switzerland, was happy with his good legs throughout the day.  “It was absolutely necessary that we get into the break today since yesterday was a complete blank.  We had to put someone at the front.  The whole team was on alert and vigilant, and I was not necessarily supposed to be in the escape group.  But it all happened pretty quickly, and I found myself committed.  It was a good group, and we worked together pretty well, but unfortunately, there was someone well placed on the GC, so there was no way the peloton was going to let us get enough to take the day’s stage.  That said, being up front reassured me a bit.  I felt good and it will prove to have been good training for the upcoming stages and races.  Spending a day at the front is always beneficial, and something that I don’t often get the chance to do.”

For directeur sportif Kjell Carlström, the results of the day are significantly more positive than the previous stage.  “The riders did what we asked them to do, which essentially was to get into the break.  It was not necessarily a stage for Sébastien Reichenbach, but he did his work well, and it also gave him the chance to take some points for the best climber.  A big downside from the stage for us is the abandonment of Jarlinson Pantano. He is sick; he simply had no strength and so was forced to stop.  Now we will just have to dynamite the upcoming stages, and why not give a go at winning the mountain classification?”