Tour de l'Ain

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.

Haimar Zubeldia's victory came in Saturday's final stage of the Tour de l'Ain, but the road to succes began with the opening prologue victory and a team dedicated to a week of solid racing.  Share the journey in pictures.

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.

Tour de l’Ain
Stage 2:  Le Parc Des Oiseaux to Trevoux, 138.8km/86mi
By Cathy Mehl

Yesterday’s second place winner moved up a slot today to take the sprint victory in stage 2 of the Tour de l’Ain.  Wearing the leader’s jersey, Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil) took the win just ahead of Steve Chainel  (BBox Bouygues Telecom) and  Tony Gallopin of Cofidis.  Gallopin is the nephew of The Shack’s Team Director Alain Gallopin and continues to have a strong year in his young career.   Feillu took the race lead yesterday on time bonuses and widened the gap today with the bonus awarded to his first place finish.

Tour de l’Ain
Stage 1: Lagnieu to Saint Vulbus, 144.4km/90mi
By Cathy Mehl
A sprint finish brought more than 60 riders to the line with Stéphane Poulhies (Saur-Sojasun) taking the field sprint in the opening road stage of the Tour de l’Ain.  The 25-year old French rider finished just ahead of Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil) and Jean-Lou Païani of the French National Espoirs Team.  A six-second time bonus moved Feillu into the leader’s jersey just ahead of The Shack’s Haimar Zubeldia by four seconds.

Tour de l’Ain
Prologue:  Ambérieu-En-Bugey, 3km/1.9mi
By Cathy Mehl

It was a short and sweet opening prologue at the Tour de l’Ain on Tuesday night, made  all the sweeter with Haimar Zubeldia pulling out the win for Team RadioShack.   Zubeldia was the fastest rider in the short effort against the clock and was just hundredths of a second faster than the surprising young Dutch rider Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank Continental Team) who took second.  Zubeldia will start tomorrow in the yellow leader’s jersey in stage 1 of the five day race.  For 33-year old Zubeldia this is his first individual victory as a professional rider in ten years. On May 28th 2000, he won the overall classification the Bicicleta Vasca.  He also finished three times in the top ten of the Tour de France.