Jake Stewart has won the first stage of the
Tour de l'Ain. The British rider from Groupama-FDJ was the fastest in the sprint to cross the finish line. It is Stewart's first professional victory.
Tim Wellens joined forces with Stefan Bissegger (EF-EasyPost) and Mathis Lebeau (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) to create gap from the peloton at the start of the race. They managed to create a gap of 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The peloton caught up to them just 30 kilometers before finish.
With the peloton reaching the stage's end, Rémi Cavagna launched an attack 500 meters before the cross line, but the sprinters were not going down easily. The sprinting peloton caught him up in the final 100 meters. Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) narrowly won the stage, with Jason Tesson (St Michel-Auber93) finishing second. Stan Van Tricht (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) secured bronze. Stewart will start the second stage with yellow jersey.