Tour de l‘Ain 2021 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

July 30, 2021

Tour de l‘Ain 2021 – Stage 2 – Lagnieu – Saint-Vulbas : 136 km

For young, up-and-coming French riders the Tour de l’Ain is one of the most important races on the pro cycling calendar and a big chance to attract the interest of WorldTour talent scouts. The multi-day race was first held back in 1970 under an old and now defunct name, the Prix de l’Amitié. In 1989 a committee of new organisers came in and changed the name to the more familiar Tour de l’Ain. They also took the race to a new region, swapping southeast France and the French Alps for the Jura Mountains and the Ain departement in east-central France. Since the establishment of the UCI ProTour back in 2005, the Tour de l’Ain has been ranked as a 2.1 event, making it one of the biggest French stage races outside of the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and Critérium du Dauphiné. Up until 2018, the race regularly ran for five stages, with a short opening prologue followed by four punchy road stages. Now there’s just three stages for the riders to compete over, two of which are often held in the heart of the Jura Mountains. The climbs in the Jura Mountains may not be quite as well known as those in the French Alps, but that doesn’t make them any less tough. Climbs like the Col du Grand Colombier, Col de la Faucille, Col du Berthiand and Col de Menthières have all featured on this race in the past two years and each one has helped to catalyse a significant GC battle.

Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) moved into the overall lead of the Tour de l’Ain after winning stage 2 in Saint-Vulbas.

The German bridged across alone to a break of five riders with 2km remaining and he then produced a fine sprint to beat Michael Storer (DSM) and Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) to the line.

The 137km stage from Lagnieu took in rugged terrain as the peloton climbed the Côte de Corlier, Col de Ballon and Col d’Ordonnaz ahead of the day’s final ascent of the Col de Portes, and fast men including overnight leader Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-QuickStep) were distanced before the finale.

The bunch was whittled down to 30 or so riders by the time the race hit the Col de Portes, where a group of five riders broke clear: Storer, Vanhoucke, Rémi Rochas (Cofidis), Matteo Badilatti (Groupama-FDJ) and Georg Steinhauser (Germany).

This quintet reached the summit with 32km remaining holding a lead of half a minute over the reduced peloton, where Deceuninck-QuickStep had been leading the chase on behalf of Andrea Bagioli. When the Italian found himself isolated nearer the top, Trek-Segafredo’s Antonio Tiberi took up the reins of pursuit on behalf of Quinn Simmons over the other side.

Tiberi received some help from AG2R-Citroën’s Clement Champoussin, but they could only close the gap to 20 seconds with 5km remaining. Simmons attacked in a bid to bridge across to the leaders, but he was quickly shut down.

Zimmermann had the guile to try his luck shortly afterwards, and the German succeeded in escaping the chasing group and he linked up with the escapees beneath the 2km to go banner.

Zimmermann was forced to lead the break into the finishing straight, but it was no disadvantage as his raw strength proved the difference. He opened his sprint from distanced and neither Storer nor Vanhoucke could get back on terms.

Jose Manuel Diaz (Delko) took 7th at 19 seconds, while Aurelien Paret-Peintre (AG2R-Citroën) outsprinted Simmons and Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) to take 8th at 23 seconds.

Zimmermann leads Storer by 4 seconds and Vanhoucke by 6 seconds ahead of Saturday’s mountainous finale, while Latour, Paret-Peintre and Simmons all lie 33 seconds off the overall lead.

Results :
1 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 3:05:42
2 Michael Storer (Aus) Team DSM
3 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
4 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis
5 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
6 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) Germany U23
7 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko 0:00:18
8 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:22
9 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
10 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
11 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
12 Florent Castellarnau (Fra) France
13 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
14 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
16 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
17 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
18 Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto Soudal
19 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
20 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
21 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
22 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:44
23 Clément Jolibert (Fra) France
24 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
25 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
26 Henri Vandenabeele (Bel) Team DSM
27 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
28 Dominik Rober (Ger) Germany U23
29 Jakob Geßner (Ger) Germany U23
30 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
31 Jannis Peter (Ger) Germany U23
32 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
33 Matthew Riccitello (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
34 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
35 Louis Richard (Fra) France
36 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
37 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
38 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
39 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
40 Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
41 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
42 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies
43 Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
45 Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Germany U23
46 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
47 Jhojan Garcia Susa (Col) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
48 Alan Boileau (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
49 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
50 Stefan Bennett (Fra) France
51 Clément Didier (Fra) France
52 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) TotalEnergies
53 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:06
54 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
55 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
56 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
57 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
58 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
59 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:08:35
60 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
61 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis
62 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
63 Sergio Garcia Gonzalez (Spa) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
64 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
65 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
66 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Delko
67 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
68 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
69 Erik Fetter (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
70 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-Quickstep
71 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko
72 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
73 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) TotalEnergies
74 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
75 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
76 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:15:42
77 Alexander Tarlton (Ger) Germany U23
78 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
79 Vergaerde Otto (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
80 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
81 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
82 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:46
83 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
84 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
85 Mathias de Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
86 Lucas De Rossi (Fra) Delko
87 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
88 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
89 Lubomír Petrus (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
90 Pedro Andrade (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
91 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
92 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
93 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
94 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
95 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
96 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
97 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
98 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
99 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
100 Morné van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
101 Emile Brenans (Fra) France
102 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
103 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
104 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
105 Dylan Kowalski (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
106 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
107 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
108 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
109 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
110 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
111 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
112 Carmelo Urbano Fontiveros (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
113 Felix Gall (Aut) Team DSM
114 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:25:31
115 Samuel Janisch (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:26:54
DNF Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita) Team DSM
DNF Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) TotalEnergies
DNF Josu Etxeberria Azpilikueta (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
DNF Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
DNF Ivan Centrone (Lux) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
DNF Diogo Barbosa (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 6:10:29
2 Michael Storer (Aus) Team DSM 0:00:04
3 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:06
4 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:10
5 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) Germany U23
6 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
7 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko 0:00:28
8 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:32
9 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
10 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
11 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
12 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
13 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
14 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
16 Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto Soudal
17 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
18 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
20 Florent Castellarnau (Fra) France
21 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
22 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:54
23 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
24 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
25 Clément Jolibert (Fra) France
26 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
27 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
28 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
29 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
30 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies
31 Jakob Geßner (Ger) Germany U23
32 Jhojan Garcia Susa (Col) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
33 Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
34 Alan Boileau (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
35 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
36 Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal
37 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
38 Henri Vandenabeele (Bel) Team DSM
39 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
40 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
41 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) TotalEnergies
42 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
43 Artem Nych (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
44 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
45 Jannis Peter (Ger) Germany U23
46 Matthew Riccitello (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
47 Louis Richard (Fra) France
48 Dominik Rober (Ger) Germany U23
49 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
50 Stefan Bennett (Fra) France
51 Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Germany U23
52 Clément Didier (Fra) France
53 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA 0:06:16
54 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
55 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
56 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
57 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
58 Jan Hirt (Cze) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
59 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:08:35
60 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis 0:08:45
61 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
62 Erik Fetter (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
63 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
64 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko
65 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
66 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) TotalEnergies
67 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
68 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
69 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
70 Sergio Garcia Gonzalez (Spa) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
71 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
72 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
73 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 0:09:40
74 Mathias Leturnier (Fra) Delko 0:09:47
75 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:13:53
76 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:15:52
77 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
78 Vergaerde Otto (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
79 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
80 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:16:50
81 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:16:52
82 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:16:56
83 Riccardo Minali (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
84 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
85 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
86 Dylan Kowalski (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
87 Mathias de Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
88 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
89 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
90 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
91 Lucas De Rossi (Fra) Delko
92 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
93 Lubomír Petrus (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
94 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
95 Pedro Andrade (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
96 Felix Gall (Aut) Team DSM
97 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
98 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
99 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
101 Emile Brenans (Fra) France
102 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA
103 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:17:44
104 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:17:49
105 Mattia Frapporti (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:17:58
106 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
107 Alexander Tarlton (Ger) Germany U23 0:18:04
108 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:18:28
109 Carmelo Urbano Fontiveros (Spa) Caja Rural-seguros RGA 0:18:42
110 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:19:32
111 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:20:03
112 Morné van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
113 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:25:15
114 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:25:41
115 Samuel Janisch (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:27:49