Cian. Is. Back! Visma | Lease a Bike launches Uijtdebroeks, who takes glorious solo win over Colombier

The Tour de l'Ain had delivered some exciting cycling so far. On day one, Visma | Lease a Bike set a fast pace, but it was Tom Donnenwirth and David Gaudu who secured an unadulterated 1-2 finish for Groupama-FDJ. A day later, Prodhomme took the lead in the GC with the stage win after a spectacular duel with Uijtdebroeks. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike tried to drop the Frenchman, but as expected, he wasn't explosive enough in the sprint.

In the third and final stage of the Tour de l'Ain, the Grand Colombier was traditionally on the program, the judge of the French three-day race. By the time the riders got there, they would already have a lot of altitude meters in their legs from the Col de Richemond and the Col de la Biche. For a long time, there was no sign of an early breakaway, as the peloton got through the first phase of the final stage intact. Seven riders broke away on the first climb of the day, but that was short-lived. In the run-up to the tough Col de la Biche (6 kilometers at 9.2%), the race exploded.

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A group of seven favorites formed: Uijtdebroeks, Jørgen Nordhagen, and Ben Tulett were there for Visma | Lease a Bike, along with Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), Prodhomme, Geoffrey Bouchard (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and Louis Rouland (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). It was these seven riders who were the first to dive into the descent towards the Grand Colombier. On that descent, with more than 60 kilometers still to go to the finish, the pace was too fast for Bouchard. The 33-year-old Frenchman had to chase after the six leaders.

Visma | Lease a Bike thus had the numerical advantage when we started the Colombier, a giant 15.3-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.8 percent, after more than 70 kilometers. Uijtdebroeks had already said that he was looking forward to a long and arduous climb, which would normally be to his advantage. And that proved to be the case: early on in the climb, he broke away from the rest with Prodhomme, and the Frenchman in the leader's jersey was forced to let him go. Uijtdebroeks did not ride very fast, but his lead grew steadily.

At the top of the Grand Colombier, Uijtdebroeks had a 1.15-minute lead over Prodhomme, but his gap to the rest was even more impressive. Teammate Tulett reached the top together with Moniquet and Rouland, more than three minutes behind. Nordhagen and Bouchard were a bit further back. Uijtdebroeks knew that he could take the descent without taking too many risks, and that if he made it to the bottom, after another tough stretch, glory would be waiting for him.

The road to the finish was long, including the deceptively steep final kilometers. But that only made the triumph all the greater. Uijtdebroeks eventually crossed the line more than three minutes ahead of Prodhomme, cheering with his Cervélo above his head.