Alexandr Pliuschin in the main break at Amstel Gold Race

IAM Cycling played an important role throughout the 251.8 kilometer Amstel Gold Race jam-packed with 34 climbs, which was won solo and against the odds by Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff).

Joining the break after fewer than 20 kilometers had been covered, Alexandr Pliuschin spent his day at the pointy end of the race.

The Champion of Moldova, who currently lives in the Vaud region of Switzerland, was satisfied with his performance, noting that his form is still improving.

“We definitely played the game well.  Pirmin Lang really deserved to be in the break today.  He tried his luck more than once, but never found the right combination.  I, on the other hand, attacked once and luckily managed to get into the right move.  Our group was a strong one and well worth the effort, even if the peloton full of favorites controlled our time gap pretty tightly.   It was a lucky thing too that I was at the front of the race so late in the day because Martin Elmiger suffered a mechanical and I was on hand to give him my wheel.  Actually, I was not on a great day personally, but my form is coming along little by little.”

Martin Elmiger managed to position himself well in the final among all the favorites, but an ill-timed mechanical prevented him from capitalizing.

“My tire came off and was caught up in my wheel.  I nearly crashed at 50 km/h.  Fortunately, Alex (Pliuschin) was still with me, and was able to give me his wheel.  I was back on my bike pretty quickly, but I never saw the favorites again.  It’s a shame to end the day like that because I really did have good legs today.  But as you say in French: c’est la vie !”

Team IAM Cycling Amstel Gold Race – results