Tour de Suisse, stage 5: Heinrich Haussler scores another top-5

12 June 2013

IAM Cycling

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Heinrich Haussler continues to get close to a prestigious victory at the Tour of Switzerland.

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Between Buochs and Leuggern, IAM Cycling once again united at the head of the peloton to help Haussler position himself perfectly in anticipation of the mass sprint up a false flat to the finish line.  Unfortunately, the Australian puncheur saw the victory snatched by Alexandre Kristoff (Katusha), while he powered to 5th place.  The strong finish did not satisfy Haussler who was aiming for nothing short of the victory.

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Directeur Sportif Marcello Albasini noted the strong performances of his riders.

“With 20 kilometers to go, we attempted to tighten the knot by putting five guys on the front of the group.  The idea was to tire the pure sprinters before the finish, in order to strengthen Heino’s chances.  The guys really put their backs into it.  They did their best, but we are missing essential evidence without the victory.”

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Reto Hollenstein was also disappointed not to see his teammate raise his arms in triumph.

“We really made a serious effort to crack the group on the final lap.  We worked up front and positioned Heinrich well, but no one expects anything superhuman.”

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 Thomas Löfkvist, an experienced professional, echoed his teammate’s sentiments.

“The team did everything right, but the competition is very stiff here.  I hope that we will find an opening before the end of the Tour; tomorrow we will be covering my training routes.”

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In addition to the disappointment at the finish line, IAM Cycling and Marcel Wyss’s bad luck struck again at the start.  The man from Bern, who was already a member of the riding-wounded after having crashed during the first stage in Quinto, fell again today, this time in the neutral section before the stage had even officially started.  Thrown to the ground after having hit a curb, Wyss suffered bruises all along his left side (knee, thigh, back and hip), adding to the wounds along his right side sustained in his crash on Saturday.

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