Martin won the stage to lead the Tour de l’Ain

the French cyclist Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) won this Wednesday in the second phase of Tour de l’Ainbetween Saint-Vulbas and Lagnieu, 144 km, thanks to a single attack launched 1.6 km from the finish line, which, in addition to the victory, served to position him as the new leader of the general classification.

The Gallic runner reached the top of the Col des Portes in a group with seven other cyclists, but he took advantage of the long descent to the finish line to stand up, and complete the stage as the winner, with a time of 3 hours, 44 minutes and 49 seconds, also achieving his first victory of the year.

Then Dane entered Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo), who managed to beat the other chasers in the final sprint, two seconds behind; also moved into second place overall, just six seconds behind the Frenchman.

The French Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) He is third, and occupies that position in the general classification, eight seconds behind the leader.

While the world champion Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), who was part of the leading group on the Col des Portes, lost pace on a slight climb on the descent to the finish, and finished ninth, leaving 1 minute and 11 seconds behind the winner and finishing in ninth overall.

to the Spanish, Antonio Pedrero (Movistar Team) was the most outstanding, finishing in eighteenth position in one minute and 56 seconds. He was in 2:06 overall.

For his part, the winner of the first stage and early leader, the British Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ), was unlucky and finished more than three minutes behind Martin.

The final stage, which will take place this Thursday, is the shortest of the lap, at 131km, with a route between Plateau d’Hauteville and Lélex.