Tour de l’Ain

Stage 4: Culoz - Belley 126.1km/78mi

By Cathy Mehl

Team RadioShack’s Haimar Zubeldia took the overall victory in the Tour de l’Ain on Saturday by the slimmest of margins at two-tenths of a second over second-place finisher and stage winner Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil).    After five days of racing, the gaps going into the final stage were so small that the race was up for grabs down to the wire, pushing the riders in contention for the win to give it their all on the final stage.  Tackling the HC Grand Colombier in the final 35km, a group went away that included all the race favorites.  Zubeldia’s fourth place in the stage placed him in the winner’s circle, marking his first overall win in ten years, the last time being on May 28th 2000 in the Bicicleta Vasca.

"We knew it would be close today,” said GC winner Zubeldia.  “There were some strong guys very close in the GC.  We watched Moncoutie as he was potentially the most dangerous.  In the end it was Poels who came up with the results.  It’s good we survived to take the victory.”  The33-year old Basque rider continued, saying, “ The Team did a great job for me today.  First Fumy and Markel worked and then Muravyev, Rovny and Chechu on the Grand Colombier.  It was a small team but a big success.  For me personally it is nice to win although my job in the team is to help others win.  This time the responsibility came to me and I’m glad I didn’t disappoint them.  Now I will take one week of rest and then race the Plouay and Poitou-Charentes.  My season is not over yet.”  After missing the Tour de France due to a broken wrist, Haimar has a full end-of-the-season race calendar ahead of him.

“I’m so glad I pushed Haimar in the prologue when you see that the margin of victory was so small,” commented Team Director Alain Gallopin after the stage.  “The team was superb.  We were lucky to win with such a small time difference, but sometimes you have to create your own luck!  It’s a pity that we took the yellow jersey from my nephew Tony but there is no room for sentimentality here.  Every Team RadioShack victory counts.  We still want to show and prove that we deserved a spot in the Vuelta,” concluded Gallopin, referring to the non-selection of the 2010 Tour de France Best Team.

A group of eight was able to establish a gap on the Colombier and with plenty of fire power and the possible win on the line, the group drove on to the finish in Belley.  Poels took the victory with David Moncoutie (Cofidis) and Thibault Pinot (FdJ) coming in just behind.  Zubeldia captured fourth with the same time as the first three finishers.

Sunday takes the Team to Hamburg, Germany for the one day Vattenfall  Classic. TheShack riders are Sam Bewley, Mathew Busche, Daryl Impey, Jason McCartney, Gregory Rast, Bjørn Selander, Gert Steegmans & Tomas Vaitkus with José Azevedo directing.  Good luck guys!

Stage 4 Results

1              Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team  3:15:39             

2              David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne                               

3              Thibault Pinot (Fra) Française Des Jeux                  

4              Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Team Radioshack                                 

5              Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur - Sojasun                0:00:03  

6              Johann Tschopp (Swi) BBox Bouygues Telecom                                  

7              Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun         0:00:05  

8              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia                               

9              Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto                0:00:28  

10            Maxime Mederel (Fra) Big Mat - Auber 93            0:00:38

Team RadioShack Results

19           José-Luis Rubiera (Spa)

36           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)  0:06:26

51           Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) 0:08:06                                  

52           Yvan Rovny (Rus)

69           Markel Irizar (Spa)  0:15:58

Final General Classification

1              Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Team Radioshack                13:44:32                

2              Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                             

3              David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne              0:00:05  

4              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia              0:00:07  

5              Thibault Pinot (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0:00:10  

6              Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun         0:00:11  

7              Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur - Sojasun                0:00:13  

8              Johann Tschopp (Swi) BBox Bouygues Telecom                 0:00:19  

9              Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto                0:00:23  

10            Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne     0:00:31

Team RadioShack on Final General Classification               

36           José-Luis Rubiera (Spa)   0:08:09 

39           Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)  0:08:24               

46           Yvan Rovny (Rus)  0:15:14            

50           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)   0:16:01 

68           Markel Irizar (Spa)  0:23:26