Nacer Bohanni (Cofidis) won stage 2 of the Tour de l’Ain after he was a convincing winner in the bunch sprint ahead of Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) and Maxime Daniel (Fortuneo-Oscaro). It was Bouhanni’s first victory since his heavy crash on the final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire in May and came after a trying Tour de France in which he was still struggling the effects of his injuries.
The finale was not without controversy, as Anthony Maldonado (HP BTP-Auber 93) came down in a crash in the finishing straight. There was a delay of several minutes as the commissaires reviewed the footage and eventually confirmed Bouhanni as the stage winner. The time bonus for winning the stage was also sufficient to lift Bouhanni into the overall lead ahead of stage 1 winner Juan José Lobato (LottoNL-Jumbo).
“It’s a relief to win again,” Bouhanni said afterwards, according to L’Équipe. “It was difficult for me, it’s been a hard year. Mentally, I’ve been through quite a difficult period. I was starting to doubt because I was doing my best every day to get back to my true level. I was off the bike for 20 days in the month of May and they told me that my season was over. Getting to the start of the Tour was a victory, finishing it was another.
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“That’s cycling. There are highs and lows. I can feel that I’m getting back to where I was, little by little. I knew there was a chance today.”
The bunch finish was never in doubt, though the stage was enlivened by a break featuring Ryan Anderson (Direct Energie), Jérémy Lecroq (Roubaix-Lille Métropole) and Robert Kessler (Germany), who were hauled in by the peloton in the final 15 kilometres.
Friday’s stage to Oyonnax should see the complexion of the race change as the peloton faces no fewer than five climbs, with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) expected to be to the fore.
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