He will forever remember this 6th of August. On the opening stage of the Tour de l’Ain, heading towards Lagnieu and featuring the Col de Portes, Tom Donnenwirth celebrated his very first pro win on Wednesday. Riding at the WorldTour level since this season with Groupama-FDJ, the 27-year-old puncher finished off a superb team effort by winning a sprint ahead of… David Gaudu, who also claimed his first pro victory in the Tour de l’Ain eight years ago. Lorenzo Germani also slipped into the mix and took fourth place. A perfect start, to say the least.
Unlike in previous editions, the sprinters were really not welcomed to the Tour de l’Ain this year. The first stage, usually suited to them, already offered a major difficulty on Wednesday. Forty kilometres from the finish, the peloton had to tackle the Col de Portes (14.6 km at 5.4%), the only climb of the day, but one that was surely enough to make a proper selection. Over the 120 kilometres of flat before that, a trio formed at the front and was able to lead the race with a two-minute margin over the pack. The gap was approximately similar before the first slopes, and it obviously only decreased on the Col de Portes as riders started to get dropped from behind. Then, halfway up the climb, Visma-Lease a Bike really made a big push, and three men quickly broke away from the rest. “I really had to manage my effort because my legs were really hurting, and the goal for me was to not go above my limits so that I could make a good sprint at the finish,” explained Tom Donnenwirth. “I had really good legs during our quick ride yesterday, and I thought I could do it today, on a course that really suited me.” Like his teammates, he entered a chasing group of about ten, then some twenty riders. “We suffered on the attacks, but these were the first efforts after a long period without racing,” added Yvon Caër. “We didn’t panic. We knew Lorenzo would be able to close the gap on the descent.”
“It’s just pure joy,” Tom Donnenwirth
And that’s indeed what happened. After crossing the summit of the Col de Portes twenty seconds behind the leading trio, the chasing group was able to bridge across on the downhill thanks to the young Italian rider from Groupama-FDJ, who kept his effort going all the way to the bottom, with his leader David Gaudu in his wheel. Inside a first “peloton” of twenty-nine riders, the French squad still had the French climber, Tom Donnenwirth, Lorenzo Germani, Brieuc Rolland and Clément Braz Afonso. The latter was soon put to work after Oliver Mattheis’ attack on the flat thirteen-kilometre section leading to the finish. “The guys trusted me, and I need that to perform”, said Tom. “They told me I could win, that I was one of the fastest guys in the peloton. The whole team was really great all day, pulling on the climb, in the final. There was some action, but I always remained calm. I kept telling myself that I could do it, and I really didn’t want to mess up.” Thanks in particular to the work done by Clément Braz Afonso, the fugitive was caught with two kilometres to go, and the Groupama-FDJ train then set itself on track. In the wake of Brieuc Rolland, the team got to the front of the group shortly after the flamme rouge and never left this position from then on.
In the final corner, 200 metres from the finish line, Lorenzo Germani launched the last two wagons, namely Tom Donnenwirth and David Gaudu, and it all ended with a superb one-two finish and the first pro win of the young Frenchman. “It was a textbook finish,” said Tom with a big smile on his face. “The guys put me in a perfect position with 100 metres to go, I just had to sprint hard, finish it off, and it worked. I really have to thank the whole team who worked for me and who trusted me. It’s just pure joy. It’s a day I will always remember, that’s for sure. There have been ups and downs this season, but I always tried to believe in my capabilities, and I told myself that it would eventually work out. I hope that this is the turning point and that it will continue like this for the end of the season.” Symbolically, Tom Donnenwirth raised his arms at the finish line alongside his leader David Gaudu, who placed second, and who also took his first pro victory in a one-two finish – with Thibaut Pinot – in the same race. “The final was really nice to see,” added Yvon. “We made this happen together and did exactly what we planned. We trusted Tom, and it paid off, but I also want to highlight the work of his teammates because everyone stepped up when needed. It’s really satisfying from a team point of view.”
On Thursday, Tom Donnenwirth will start the second stage of the Tour de l’Ain with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, while the general classification is expected to change quite a lot.
