After 11 years as a professional road cyclist, Johann Tschopp (IAM Cycling) will leave the peloton to focus on mountain bike racing in 2015.
“With the help of IAM Funds I am going to devote myself to marathon mountain bike events,” he announced in a team press release issued Wednesday.
Tschopp, 32, had a busy 2015 season with the Swiss outfit, racing 58 days, including WorldTour events like Tour de Suisse, Vuelta a España, Giro di Lombardia, and Tour de Romandie, where he won the mountains classification.
He also won stage 20 of the 2010 Giro d’Italia with Bouygues Télécom and the 2012 Tour of Utah, wearing the BMC Racing kit.
“Mountain biking has always been a dream for me,” he explained. “Today, and after careful consideration, I have decided to live the dream for the 2015 season. With the help of Michel Thétaz and IAM Funds, I will take on a new challenge and devote myself to marathon mountain biking events. I will continue to be a part of the IAM family.”
Tschopp is an experienced off-road racer, having finished second at the 2003 Swiss national mountain bike championships.
A year later, he won the Swiss national marathon mountain bike title. “Marathon mountain biking has the advantage of being a very good match for my own strengths,” Tschopp said. “You must manage your efforts, especially over a long distance and with steep gradients. It is therefore quite close to road racing. And the importance of the technical aspect motivates me a lot.
“The road has brought me beautiful moments since I started as a pro in 2004. … But it was also clear to me that I did not want to do another season. So I decided to make a change in disciplines and race a mountain bike next spring.”
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