Well supported by his EF Education-Easypost teammates, Ecuador’s Alexander Jefferson Cepeda managed his 30-second lead to add his name to the Tour de l’Ain’s record books. The final stage went to neo-pro Rémi Capron, who won a sprint of a dozen riders at Ile Chambod-Cerdon Vallée de l’Ain.
What scenarios were in store for the riders on the 153.1 km route with 2920 m of climbing aver eight climbs, between Lagnieu and – first-time Tour de L’Ain host – Ile Chambod-Cerdon Vallée de l’Ain?
Geoffrey Bouchard (Decathlon AG2R la Mondiale), Maxime Jarnet (Van Rysel-Roubaix) and Rémi Lelandais (Arkea-B&B Hotels) made up the first breakaway in very hot weather. Down by 2min04s and then 1min54s after a bonus, Bouchard was the most dangerous rider for Alexander Jefferson Cepeda wearer of the Solimut Mutuelle de France leader’s yellow jersey. His team, EF Education-Easypost, effectively controlled the front of the pack, keeping the gap at around 1min13s with 50km to go.
Twenty kilometers later, Rémi Cavagna (Movistar Team) and Maximilien Juillard (Van Rysel-Roubaix) joined the break and then dropped Bouchard and Jarnet. Lelandais suffered a puncture in the meanwhile.
With 23 kilometers to go, Cavagna got dropped and Juillard found himself alone in the lead, with a shrinking 40s on a peloton under the continued drive of EF Education-Easypost. At the bottom of the final challenge of this 36th edition, the Col de Berthiand (4.8 km, 6%), the 22-year-old from VC Villefranche Beaujolais was caught by a peloton that was shedding riders over the final kilometers. At the top of the pass, 10 km from the Ile Chambod nautical base, a group of twelve riders, including Ben Hermans (Cofidis), Sergio Samitier (Movistar), Victor Lafay (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team), Archie Ryan (EF), Cepeda (EF) and Clément Braz Afonso (CIC-U-Nantes Atlantique), had formed.
The finish of this third stage would therefore be a small group sprint. Rémi Capron (Van Rysel-Roubaix) took the win ahead of Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team), a regular in the places of honor (4th overall), Nicolas Breuillard (Saint-Michel-Mavic-Auber 93), still in the game (6th overall), Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ), who once again finishes in the final Top 5 (5th) the Tour de l’Ain, and Stefano Oldani (Cofidis). The 24-year-old Van Rysel-Roubaix neo-pro, Capron, get his first victory in his first pro season and finishes 2nd overall.
The pink jersey was in the spotlight on the final day, with Van Rysel-Roubaix and EF Education-Easypost. Both teams leave Ain with a stage win each. The American team adds a magnificently orchestrated overall success with Cepeda, who get his revenge on 2023. The French team also gets the Semdoca combative of the day award for Maximilien Juillard and the super-combative award for local rider Maxime Jarnet. Rémi Lelandais (Arkea-B&B Hotels), who is no stranger to the roads of the Ain département, takes the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region blue jersey with white polka dots, thanks to the points he collected throughout the day. Stefano Oldani (Cofidis), 3rd overall, takes the Crédit Mutuel green jersey. Killian Verschuren (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team) retains the white Streichenberger jersey for best young rider.
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