Aleksejs Saramotins shines at the Strade Bianche

Aleksejs Saramotins’ excellent performance again put IAM Cycling at the forefront of one of the most popular and prominent races of the international cycling calendar. In the Italian semi-classic Strade Bianche (190 km, including 57.2 km of paved and dirt roads divided into 8 sectors), Aleksej Saramotins took a superb 5th place after the race had been won by Moreno Moser (Cannondale).

The Latvian champion spent 150 kilometers of the race in the main breakaway group, which consisted of three other riders. IAM Cycling’s sports director Marcello Albasini had the pleasant task of evaluating the success of his rider during such an important race.

“Aleksejs put in a great performance. He managed to bridge up to the three escapees just before the first sector of gravel. Tactically it was perfect. Then he succeeded in rejoining the lead group even after he suffered two crashes and fell behind by 30 seconds. Though he was dropped with 10 kilometers to go before the finish, he was able to grab onto Moreno Moser’s wheel when Moser was charging forward, and returned to the front of the race again. The rest of the team put in splendid performances too, having done a lot of work, particularly Pirmin Lang and Sébastien Reichenbach. I am very proud of all the guys.”

As IAM Cycling’s hero for the day, Aleksej Saramotins was able to savor his race as being among the best of his career, “I am still happy with my 5th place even though I had hopes of figuring more at the finish. I was really spent by the end, and was pushing my pain threshold to the max. Even though I was not feeling at my best today, I was still able to race in the top three for most of the course even after having had a couple of falls.”