Buffaz opens Tour de l'Ain with win

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Mickaël Buffaz did it the hard way and the celebratations were suitably jubilant when he took out stage one of the Tour de l'Ain in St. Denis les Bourg. Having chased the early break for 24km and helped drive it onwards to victory, the Cofidis rider outfoxed Floris Goesinnen (Skil Shimano) and Rémi Cusin (Agritubel) in the finale to secure victory.

And the Frenchman wasn't hiding his delight afterwards. "This is the happiest day of my life! This is the stage that I had no chance to win!" he said after the finish. "I began this stage [looking to get into] all the escapes and I tried to escape to organise this break [Goesinnen and Cusin] better.

Goesinnen and Cusin had moved off the front of the peloton after just 12km and after 24km of solo chasing by Buffaz the pair was joined by the Cofidis rider, who helped the trio gain a maximum advantage of 7:50. With 50km ridden it was time for Besson-Sojasun, Caisse d'Epargne and Silence-Lotto to begin the chase although their efforts proved to be in vain.

With 20km remaining the gap was still 2:12 and the chances of the break fighting it out for line honours looked more likely. It did come down to this eventuality, the two-man sprint contested by Cusin and Buffaz.

"I've never taken a win like this in the pros but in the amateurs I never missed. We won with a 37-second lead but I would have been content with two seconds! What makes it even more pleasurable for me is the joy of the people.

Buffaz explained that despite some setbacks earlier in the season this could be the turning point. "Winning at home makes it even better! It's more difficult to win at home because of the pressure. I had some health glitches early in the season; I hope that the wheel has now turned."