Bayern Rundfahrt – Mathias Frank «I even surprised myself»

IAM Cycling did not relinquish holding the lead in the Tour of Bavaria.  After having won the first stage, Heinrich Haussler handed over the race lead to his teammate Mathias Frank who won alone at the top of the queen stage to secure the double victory.

At the end of the 4 kilometer climb that boasts more than 8% average gradient, Frank, who is the team leader for IAM Cycling, distanced his nearest competitors, Thibaut Pinot and Léopold König, by eight seconds.

Frank’s impressive feat was complimented by his teammates Johann Tschopp taking fifth place, just 16 seconds adrift, and Marcel Wyss coming in 12^th place 52 seconds behind.  Their combined excellent performances have put IAM Cycling at the top of the team classification as well.

When reflecting on his day, Mathias Frank did not try to hide his satisfaction while highlighting the merits of his team’s hard work.

“I am very happy with this win, and especially with the chance to keep the yellow jersey within the team.  We really fought hard for this and the weather conditions were once again challenging.  The rain and cold increased the difficulty of the course as designed by the organizers, which was already hard enough.

I surprised myself actually because I did not have great feelings at the start of the day.  Not only that, but with about 20 kilometers to go I crashed.  But when I saw Heinrich Haussler with his yellow jersey I told myself that giving up is not an option.

Through his hard work, I was able to rejoin the peloton just before the last climb.  Then you flip the switch.  I tried my luck with less than 3 kilometers to go, right at the hardest pitches of the climb. 

I managed to dig deep enough to keep a few seconds ahead of the chasers at the finish.  Now we have to recover from our efforts, control the race throughout the long stage tomorrow and give everything in the decisive time trial on Saturday. 

And even then, nothing will be certain until we cross the finish line on the last stage on Sunday.”

All pictures kindly provided by bayern-rundfahrt.com – Danke!