Zubeldia wins Tour de l'Ain

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Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack) took the overall victory in the Tour de l'Ain on Saturday by just twenty-hundredths of a second over second-place finisher and stage winner Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil). Tony Gallopin (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) was leading before the stage, but he relinquished all hope of overall victory on a tough and demanding course.

Zubeldia and Poels tied on time and the hundredths of a second from the prologue result decided the overall victory. David Moncoutie (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) rounded out the top three.

Zubeldia won the opening prologue but lost the lead during the next day. However with the final stage containing the 20-kilometer long Grand Colombier with 35 kilometres to, the race blew apart with a group of eight, including the final top three and Thibault Pinot (Française Des Jeux) staying clear.

Zubeldia finished the stage in fourth place but it was enough to earn him 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 Zubeldia.

"There were some strong guys very close in the GC. We watched Moncoutié as he was potentially the most dangerous. In the end it was Poels who came up with the result. It's good we survived to take the victory.

"The team did a great job for me today. First Beppu and Irizar 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."

The 33-year-old’s season hasn't finished yet. He'll race in the Grand Prix of Plouay and the Tour of Poitou-Charentes.

"I'm so glad I pushed Haimar in the prologue when you see that the margin of victory was so small," said Team Director Alain Gallopin. "The team was superb. We were lucky to win with such a small time difference, but sometimes you have to create your own luck!"