Casper takes sprint victory

Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun) has won stage one of the Tour de l'Ain, covering 139.6km from Meximieux to Saint-Vulbas. The 33-year-old Frenchman outsprinted Romain Hardy (Bretagne-Schuller) and Robin Chaigneau (Skil-Shimano) in the bunch gallop finale to claim his sixth victory of the season.

Overnight leader Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank Continental Team) remains in the leader's jersey, tied on time with Jan Barta (Team NetApp). Today's stage winner's time bonus moves Casper up into third place on general classification, one second down on Kelderman.

The stage was dominated by a four-man break which formed after only 10km of racing. The escapees included Eric Berthou (Bretagne-Schuller), Arthur Vichot (FDJ), Jonathan Thire (Big Mat-Auber 93) and Yoann Michaud (France Espoir Team).

Berthou, Thire and Michaud were finally brought back by the peloton with five kilometres remaining, while Vichot pushed on alone before being caught within sight of the flamme rouge. The FDJ Frenchman's efforts did not go un-rewarded, however, as he was the first over both classified climbs on the day and earned the Tour de l'Ain's mountains classification jersey.

The peloton faces a slightly hillier stage tomorrow as they travel 153.6km between Parc des Oiseaux and Bellignat. Four classified climbs are on tap for Thursday, one 4th category ascent and three 3rd category climbs, with the final climb situated just 6.3km from the finish.