Martin Elmiger and Heinrich Haussler chat in the bunch(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
New Australian road race champion Heinrich Haussler (IAM Cycling)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Matthias Brändle (IAM Cycling) wins at Matrah Corniche.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
IAM Cycling line up for the first cobbled classics of the 2015 season with little pressure for results despite selecting strong teams. The newly promoted WorldTour team is eyeing success deeper into the classics and will race Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne accordingly.
"What I want to see from everyone is a lot of great teamwork and team spirit," sports director Rik Verbrugghe said. "We come to these races to take stock of ourselves. The results will not be the priority. Everyone knows this race can be very nervous because it is the opening Classic, so we will not panic.
"The two groups we had working at the Tour of Oman and the Ruta del Sol will join up. They each worked hard at their parallel races in order to prepare for the Classics, but now it is more important that they come and learn to ride together. Hopefully, greater things will come as we get further into the spring classics."
IAM Cycling have already taken four victories this season with the most recent coming in Oman via Matthias Brändle who lines up in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad while Matteo Pelucchi, who won his first two races of the season in Spain, has been selected for Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.
The other rider to have tasted victory this year, Australian national champion Heinrich Haussler, has been called into the Het Nieuwsblad squad having enjoyed a small break after the Tour of Qatar and replaces the ill Aleksejs Saramotins.
"[Saramotins] is not well enough to race, so we called on Haussler since he was first on the reserve list," Verbrugghe said. "He comes to lend a hand to the team for the race, and also he can take the opportunity to regain some of his feel for riding on the pavé."
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
IAM Cycling for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: Marcel Aregger, Matthias Brändle, Sylvain Chavanel, Dries Devenyns, Martin Elmiger, Jérôme Pineau, Vicente Reynes and Heinrich Haussler.
IAM Cycling for Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne: Marcel Aregger, Martin Elmiger, Sondre Holst Enger, Roger Kluge, Simon Pellaud, Matteo Pelucchi, Vicente Reynes and Jonas Van Genechten.
