Tom Donnenwirth earned his first pro victory on stage 1 of Tour de l'Ain, charging across the line in Lagnieu just ahead of David Gaudu for a Groupama-FDJ one-two punch. Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) kept the French team from sweeping the podium by taking third place just ahead of Groupama's Lorenzo Germani.
After a day of multiple breakaways, a reduced peloton was back together in the final two kilometres, with four riders from Groupama-FDJ commanding the fast pace at the front. Rémy Rochas served as the lead-out for Donnenwirth, who sailed across the finish with both arms raised.
The three-day stage race opened Wednesday with 163km from Feillens to Lagnieu. The peloton remained together for the opening third of the flat journey through eastern France, with the single second-category climb at Col de Portes (14.6km at 5.5%) with 25km to go.
With just under 100km to go, the trio of Kenny Molly (Van Rysel Roubaix), Yoel Habteab (Bike Aid) and Julian Borresch (Team Germany) charged away from the peloton. Visma-Lease a Bike and TotalEnergies were among the teams driving the peloton and holding the breakaway to under two-and-a-half minutes.
Making a first pass under the finish banner in Lagnieu, the breakaway's gap began to drop as the peloton increased the pace to begin the long ascent of Col de Portes, and on the ascent the catch was made.
The next trio to charge away at the front were Visma-Lease a Bike's Ben Tulett and Cian Uijtdebroeks with Nicolas Prodhomme of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale. They scooped up the KOM points, with Belgian Uijtdebroeks leading the way for the mountain classification lead.
Once these three leaders were reeled back with 20km to race, Bike Aid's Oliver Mattheis took a flyer for 8km. Then the sprint teams formed a path to a bunch finish, Groupama-FDJ leading the way.
Results
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