The Italian will start the final day with a big chance of winning his second points classification of the year Col de Menthières and Lélex Monts-Jura made up for a savage menu on the queen-stage of the Tour de l'Ain a short but hectic one right from the start It took for more than an hour to witness the birth of a breakaway Etixx – Quick-Step's Matteo Trentin – GC leader from day one – won the sole intermediate sprint of stage 3 a regular feature on the course of the race Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) and Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie) slipped away and worked to establish a lead of four minutes but they were caught on the penultimate climb where a plethora of attacks disintegrated the peloton leaving a group of just 15 riders at the front they stayed together until the final ascent where Sam Oomen (Giant-Alpecin) took the win and jumped in the general classification hot seat ahead of Pierre Latour (AG2R) and Bart de Clercq (Lotto-Soudal) Having around 4 200 meters of climbing packed in less than 150 kilometers stage 3 of the Tour de l'Ain was one of the most testing of the season and led to a day of suffering for many riders Matteo Trentin rode a strong race and overcome this test cementing his first place in the points rankings before Saturday's mountainous stage between Lagnieu and Belley (132.2 kilometers) to know how many times a particular page is read We only use this information to improve the content of our website These cookies are only placed after you have given your consent Ecuadorian carries four-second lead into final day Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost) won stage 2 of the Tour de l’Ain after he pipped Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ) in a two-up sprint in Lagnieu after a crash-marred finale Storer crashed beyond the finish after he made contact with Cepeda as he dived for the line, but he could have no complaint about the Ecuadorian’s sprint. Cepeda moves into the race lead, four seconds ahead of Storer and 20 up on Kenny Elissonde (Lidl-Trek) After the early break had animated proceedings on the Col des Fosses and the Côte de Saillonnaz Groupama-FDJ took up the reins at the head of the peloton and pinned back the escapees on the category 1 Col des Portes on behalf of Storer with overnight leader Jake Stewart distanced Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost) sensed his chance and he launched a stinging attack 5km from the summit that only Storer and Elissonde could initially follow Elissonde was distanced when Storer accelerated near the summit with 15km to go and this trio dropped down the other side to fight it out for stage victory The rainy conditions, however, made for a treacherous descent. Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies) was a faller in the chasing group while Carthy’s chances of stage victory disappeared when his wheels slipped from under him with a little over 2km to go Elissonde was mounting a vain solo pursuit of the leaders but the Frenchman would have to settle for third on the stage while his Lidl-Trek teammate Julien Bernard won the sprint for fourth at 37 seconds Cepeda managed to force Storer to lead out the sprint and the Australian opened his effort with 200m to go Cepeda unleashed a sharp effort of his own and just about managed to fend off Storer who slid across the road on crossing the line The Tour de l’Ain concludes on Wednesday with a tough stage to Lelex-Mont Jura that includes no fewer than seven classified climbs In the end I lost my teammate Carthy on the descent but I was able to think about the sprint,” said Cepeda we hope we can defend the leader’s jersey Results powered by FirstCycling Be one of the first to try our new activity feed EF's Cepeda wins first European race and carries lead into final stage UPDATED: Australian climber Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ) won Wednesday’s final stage and the overall at the Tour de l’Ain a day after crashing heavily at the finish line Storer crashed Tuesday after a bike-throw went array at the end of wild climbing stage in the Jura mountains The sleek mountain specialist ended up sliding across the asphalt in a high-speed crash at the end of stage 2 at the Tour de l’Ain in France Storer and Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost) roared to the line in the 124km stage from Saint-Vulbas to Lagnieu after gapping the field over the Cat Also read: Storer to join Tudor Pro Cycling in 2024 and lost balance after bumping shoulders with the Ecuadoran winner Storer kept his arms extended to ease the impact but he suffered heavy cuts and scrapes to his chest His body and bike slid across the pavement as Cepeda celebrated his first pro victory in Europe and took the overall lead “I think there is no fault of the winner,” said Groupama-FDJ sport director Benoît Vaugrenard and the road was very wet in addition to a small curve at the finish “Michael did the sprint he was supposed to do He’s burnt and scratched on his ribs and hip We hope he will recover well and that we can go on the attack and do everything to win the overall.” La vidéo de la chute de Michael Storer lors de l’arrivée de cette 2e étape du Tour de l’Ain, finalement remportée par Jefferson Cepeda. #TDA2023 pic.twitter.com/swLoGg821H — Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) August 1, 2023 Cepeda carries a four-second lead over Storer going into Wednesday’s third and final seven-climb stage across the Jura range featuring 3000m of climbing who crashed on the descent Tuesday out of the winning breakaway so we are happy with that,” Cepeda said We were very strong and worked very hard from the beginning on I hope that I can defend the lead tomorrow What’s it like to be an American cyclist living in France Watch to get 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I am not it is because this dietary preference is a frequent question in her circle of young activists in the climate movement A reservation is made at an Asian restaurant in Meximieux a small town with a small center featuring real estate agencies Lapray asks me to order three bo buns (with beef) straightaway and apologizes for being late when she arrives with her partner It will soon become clear that this fast-paced break-free schedule is the norm for the 29-year-old who has been constantly running from one place to another in the district since she embarked on a particularly audacious project: to be elected a legislator under a left-wing environmentalist label The June election is for the second constituency of Ain "a territory that's 96.5% on the urban periphery who has national statistics at her fingertips The district stretches diagonally along the A42 freeway that links Lyon to Geneva from the gates of the distant suburbs of Lyon to the Ain plain and the foothills of the Haut-Bugey presenting itself to the motorist as a succession of vast cereal fields studded here and there with subdivisions of private houses the four-sloped roofs of which protrude from walls or planted hedges It is also a logistical crossroads thanks to its strategic location which explains why one encounters warehouses and trucks as well as cyclists and hunters You have 89.95% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux rider takes the race lead 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. 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