While one part of the team has been riding the Tour de France, another block of IAM riders have been preparing for the Vuelta a Espana and other races at a high-altitude training camp. The team is pleased with the outcome of its training in the mountains.

“The guys have worked really well.  We were stationed a long way from any holiday camp. With lots of climbing, two team time trial training sessions and our usual outings to Valteline and Engadine, the team was able to put in a lot of varied training sessions in the two weeks.  The only complaint was that the weather proved much too capricious.  Rain, cold and wind accompanied us too often for our liking.” 

Directeur sportif as well as coach for IAM Cycling, Marcello Albasini expressed strong satisfaction with the two week training session that the team undertook while staying at the Hospice de La Bernina in the south-east of the Swiss Alps.  The ten riders who took part trained some 2300 meters above sea level as a way to be perfectly prepared for their next races which include the Vuelta Burgos, Tour du Limousin and the Tour of Spain. 

The workload included ride routes like Fluela-Albula-Bernina and Aprica-Mortirolo as well as a “queen stage” that had the IAM Cycling riders in the saddle for seven hours, taking a climbing sequence over the Ofenpass and the Stelvio, to Livigno and Trepalle, the highest village in Italy, before returning to Bernina.  These rides helped them work on their endurance while alternating specific exercises.

Vincente Reynes, who hasn’t been able to race for long stretches this season due to a nasty bout with prostatitis, was very happy with his training camp upon returning home to Mallorca. 

“I had a lot of pleasure in the work, particularly since I have been pain free since the end of June.  I did a test race at the Route du Sud, and then I succeeded in fulfilling all the training workloads I was tasked with. 

"The treatments I received from the urologist at the University Hospital of Geneva, the training program and the change in saddle have all helped to eliminate the problem, and I'm relieved. Now I'm looking forward to the start of the Vuelta Burgos from the 13th of August.”
 
IAM Cycling participating in the training camp:

Marcel Aregger, Stefan Denifl, Jonathan Fumeaux, Kevyn Ista, Pirmin Lang, Thomas Löfkvist, Matteo Pelucchi, Vicente Reynes, Aleksejs Saramotins, Patrick Schelling.