Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) secured the second victory for the IAM Cycling Team in today's opening stage of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe. The Italian sprinter hopes that today's triumph will help the team in its bid to secure one of the coveted wildcards for the Tour de France.

The brand-new IAM team has got their first season in the professional peloton off to a perfect start with a number of wild cards to important WorldTour races and Heinrich Haussler taking a pair of top 10 places in the biggest classics. However, their only victory was back in February when Thomas Löfkvist won the Tour Mediteraneen.

Matteo Pelucchi's victory in the opening stage of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe brought the drought to an end, and he will start tomorrow's second stage as the race leader. The Italian sprinter had been very close to get the team's first win in the opening stage of the Tour Mediteraneen, but he was denied on the line by sprinter Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol).

Today everything went according to plan for the young sprinter.

“A massive crash happened with about 3 kilometers to go to the line, and that completely changed the situation," he explained. " The wind was favorable in the long straightaway.  Positioning would be all important so I made sure to be in the right spot with 300 meters to go, and I was on wheel of Sacha Modolo.  I kept my position and managed to hold off a resurging Bouhanni."

The young Italian joined the team from Europcar prior to the season and is in his third year on the professional scene. He enjoys his new surrounding and feels at home in the Swiss team.

"I am very happy with this win and would like to thank the team for their support and confidence," he said. "I need their confidence to succeed and feel as though I can win against anyone when I have their support.”

Wildcard battle

The team is one of the final 6 teams to battle for the three wild card places in this year's Tour de France. In a battle against Europcar, Cofidis, Sojasun, Bretagne-Seche and NetApp-Endura, Pelucchi hopes that his win may help the team get a chance to show off itself on the biggest scene.

“We have been strong from the beginning of the year and have shown ourselves well in the Classics," he said. "In the stage races we have had prominent results and are always finding ways to animate the race.  We all want to be invited to go to the Tour de France.  I hope that this will help a little bit to nudge the decision in our favor."

Before the final decision on the Tour wildcards is made, the team has to finish off its participation in Sarthe. With a number of sprint stages coming up, Pelucchi has plenty of opportunities to once again show off his fast finishing speed.

"In any case, the Circuit de La Sarthe is far from over," he said. "I would like to repeat my success against all the excellent sprinters here in the stages that suit me.  And the team also has riders who will be aiming for a strong GC showing, especially during Wednesday’s individual time trial.” 

The team continues with two stages tomorrow. The riders will tackle a flat stage in the morning before the all-decisive time trial takes place in the afternoon. The team hopes to see Pelucchi excel in the former while all attention will turn to Thomas Löfkvist in the latter.