Tour de l’Ain

Stage 3:  Montmerle-Sur-Saone to Arbent, 164.5km/102mi

By Cathy Mehl and Philippe Maertens

There was plenty of drama at the Tour de l’Ain on Friday.  An attack in the final 3k by Mathieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) and then Jerome Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) quickly went nowhere in stage three's run-in to Arbent.  With 2k still to go the peloton had to take two roundabouts to the right side according to the roadbook.  But Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank Continental) took the path to the left in the second roundabout which was somehow shorter than going to the right.  Steve Morabito (BMC Racing) was fast on his wheel, with the peloton showing surprised looks on their faces at the mistake the two had made.  Morabito managed to get away and cross the line first with Maxime Bouet (AG2R) sprinting from the peloton.  But many teams protested that Morabito had not followed the designated course  and ten minutes after the race the two were relegated to the back of the front group, taking the win from Morabito and giving it to 23-year old Bouet in his 6th professional win.  Second and third places went to Greg Van Avermaet (Omego Pharma-Lotto) and Tony Gallopin of Cofidis.

“The first hour was raced at 49k per hour!” said Team Director Alain Gallopin after the stage.  “After 100k the ‘race’ really started.  There was a break of 3 guys who got ten minutes but none of them were a threat so we didn’t have to chase.  We just had to stay attentive and be in the front group.  But when a counter-attack went with Jan Baekelants (Omega Pharma-Lotto), we had to pull and chase back for that one.”  

Chechu relaxes before the stage

With his third place on the stage,  Tony Gallopin took over the race lead.   Team RadioShack’s Haimar Zubeldia sits in fourth place at seven seconds off the lead with one stage to go.   It’s the queen stageon Saturday with the climb of Grand-Colombier to bring the race to a conclusion.  The route travels 126.1km/78mi from Culoz to Belley.  “Tomorrow will be the decisive stage,” explained Alain Gallopin. "It’s really hard.  We will try to win with Haimar but everybody is really close on the GC.  There are many dangerous riders in the group.”

Earlier in the stage a break of three riders spent the day off the front and still held a gap of 1’30 with 20k to ride.  They were brought back at 5k to go, setting up the attacks at 3k that put the wheels in motion for the disputed finish in Arbent.

Rovny works at the front

Top Ten Results

1              Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                 4:00:55                   

2              Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto                                 

3              Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne                      

4              Romain Hardy (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller                  

5              Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française Des Jeux                     

6              Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                             

7              Thierry Hupond (Fra) Skil - Shimano                          

8              Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur - Sojasun                                 

9              Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                             

10            Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

Team RadioShack Results

12           Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)

14           Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)

36           Ivan Rovny (Rus)

54           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)  0:02:29

66           José-Luis Rubiera (Spa)  0:07:21

General Classification after Stage 3

1              Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne     10:28:46                

2              Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto                0:00:02  

3              Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                 0:00:06  

4              Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Team Radioshack                0:00:07  

5              Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Continental                    

6              Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole     0:00:08  

7              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia              0:00:09  

8              Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team                0:00:10  

9              Marco Pinotti (Ita) Team HTC - Columbia                                

10           Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                 0:00:12

Team RadioShack on General Classification

36           Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) 0:00:25

57           Ivan Rovny (Rus)   0:07:15

62           Markel Irizar (Spa)  0:07:35

65           José-Luis Rubiera (Spa)  0:07:38 

75           Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn)  0:09:42                   

Photos courtesy of Graham Watson