Tour de l'Ain: Andrea Bagioli wins stage 1 in Ceyzeriat

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Following a fascinating battle between Jumbo-Visma and Team Ineos in the closing kilometres of the opening stage of the Tour de l'Ain, Deceuninck-QuickStep's Andrea Bagioli got the better of the big guns, judging the final uphill sprint into Ceyzeriat perfectly to edge out Jumbo leader Primoz Roglic right on the line for the stage win and the race lead.

The three-day French stage race had been billed as a heavyweight contest between the Dutch and the British outfits, and it didn't disappoint, the two teams riding side-by-side once the day's break had been reeled in with 10km remaining.

Team Ineos led the way for the most part, but it was Roglic who produced the first notable strike, accelerating hard as the road ramped up 1.5km from the line, Ineos' Tour de France champion Egan Bernal the quickest to respond to the Slovene champion.

As the pick of the stage contenders began to come back together entering the final straight, Tom Dumoulin, racing for the first time in more than a year, powered to the front to lead out Roglic. It seemed the Slovene would finish off his teammate's work with victory, but, having made that earlier attack, the Slovene champion didn't have the speed in his legs to hold off Bagioli, who came through on his left to take the stage. He promptly dedicated it to teammate Fabio Jakobsen, who remains in hospital following his horrific crash at the Tour of Poland two days ago.

"It's incredible. After I'd crossed the line I couldn't believe that I'd won, then I was told I had done. It's a crazy feeling," said Bagioli, whose last victory was in the under-23 Tour of Lombardy last October. "Thanks to my team for this. The victory is dedicated to Fabio. We hope that he recovers quickly and is soon able to return to the group."

Speaking to DirectVelo, Bagioli added: "When Roglic attacked, he showed that he was very strong. The other favourites like Egan Bernal, Tom Dumoulin and Geraint Thomas followed, which created a selection. I hung on and as I was still near the front I said to myself that I had to try to sprint. It will be hard to keep the jersey tomorrow but I will try unless I have to work for another rider on the team."

How it unfolded

The stage was animated by four riders, who went clear soon after the start in Montréal La Cluse. Alexis Brunel (Groupama-FDJ), Ivan Centrone (Natura 4 Ever), Martin Salmon (Sunweb) and Michal Paluta (Team CCC) quickly built up a lead of two minutes, but were then held in check, Israel Start-Up Nation doing the majority of the pace-making behind the quartet, with Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) also helping out a good deal.

The break's advantage began to erode with 40km remaining, initially when B&B Hotels-Vital Concept joined Israel Start-Up Nation in setting the pace in the bunch. It came down even more quickly when, with 25km, Ineos and Jumbo-Visma moved up in numbers, too.

With 21km left, Brunel pushed on hard, taking Paluta and Salmon with him, only for the Frenchman to pay for his effort 2km later, leaving just two in the lead. Their collaboration lasted only a kilometre, though, before Paluta jumped clear on his own with the main pack by now little more than 20 seconds behind.

At the same time, his CCC teammate Georg Zimmermann accelerated out of the peloton and managed to bridge up to Paluta, bringing Salmon along with him. Polish champion Paluta gave all he had left to boost Zimmermann's advantage on the bunch before yielding with 12km left. It was to no avail, however, as Zimmermann and Salmon were reeled in 10km from home.

That left Ineos and Jumbo riding side by side, often at a frenzied pace that left the bunch lined out behind them. Their duel augurs well for the much more testing final two days of this race, which concludes with a summit finish on the Grand Colombier on Sunday.

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