Swiss team revels their passion for the Tour of Flanders
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Australian Heinrich Haussler of IAM Cycling pictured during a track reconnaissance, on April 1, 2016, ahead of Tour of Flanders
Dries Devenyns (IAM Cycling)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Swiss champion Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Roger Kluge (IAM Cycling) celebrates his win(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Dries Devenyns (IAM Cycling) was in the front group but fell away in the finale(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Dries Devenyns and Nikolas Maes at Dward door Vlaanderen(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The IAM Cycling team is often overlooked as a contender in the cobbled Classics but the Swiss WorldTour team has prepared meticulously for this year's Tour of Flanders and created a stunning video that captures the essence of the cobbled Classics -the pain and suffering of the riders on the cobbled climbs but also the thrills and excitement for the fans along the road side.
Martin Elmiger finished tenth in last year's Tour of Flanders, with Dries Devenyns 21st and Australia's Heinrich Haussler 28th.
All three will be hoping to do better this year and will have support from Roger Kluge, Vegard Stake Laengen, Reto Hollenstein, Oliver Naesen and Aleksejs Saramotins.
Haussler finished seventh in Milan-San Remo and seems to have rediscovered the form that helped him finish second in the 2009 Tour of Flanders.
"The Spring Classics mean everything to me," Haussler says in the video. "They are more important to me than anything else. More important than the world championships, more important than the Tour de France."
As a Belgian, Dries Devenyns know the importance of the cobbled Classics amongst of Belgian and especially Flemish public. One million people are expected to watch the race from the roadside despite the recent terror attacks.
"During the period from the end of February to April, the No.1 sport in Belgium is cycling," Devenyns points out.
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