Marcel Wyss leads Tour of Portugal

IAM Cycling had a great day at the Tour of Portugal’s 2^nd stage between Oliviera de Azeméis – Viana do Castelo (187.2 km).

The entire team performed well.   Not only did Marcel Wyss take the yellow jersey, after having already shown good form at the Trophée Matteotti ten days earlier, but Aleksejs Saramotins moved up to third place after a sprint up a false flat which was won by the Portuguese Sousa (Efapel).

In addition to that, Reto Hollenstein, who finished 10^th in Thursday’s stage 1, powered a 12 man breakaway, and was in the end only caught within sight of the line.

Directeur sportif, Kjell Carlström was very pleased with the results of the day and the performance of his riders.

“All the guys have earned hearty congratulations today.  The heat wave returned with temperatures of 39 degrees and a headwind over the 187 kilometer course.  Not only that, but the stage was essentially a series of winding climbs and descents.  But the guys have carried out all pre-stage instructions, and tactically, we were spot on.  Of course, to have had Reto Hollenstein caught within the final kilometer is a real pain.” 

Naturally, from here on out, Carlström could hardly reveal the IAM Cycling strategy for the coming stages.

“Marcel Wyss took over the yellow jersey, due largely to the good performance the team had in the prologue team time trial.  The differences are small, but we have not yet settled on what will our tactics be.  The stage Saturday is, in principle, more a stage for the sprinters.  We will control part of the day, but other teams will certainly see it in their interest to contribute as the finish line approaches.”