Andrew Talansky took his first overall stage race win thanks to strong riding by him and his argyle teammates. Director sportif Johnny Weltz sent this report.
We had to defend Andrew’s leader’s jersey on a short but bumpy circuit with a 1st cat. climb just 25km from the finish and only a 12 sec lead over a Movistar rider.
The attacks went right from the start and our team brought one break after another back until a group of 14 riders broke clear with no one dangerous on the overall.
They built up a gap of five minutes. Then Movistar started to work and they made a big selection. It all came down to a small group over the top of last climb — only nine riders where we had both Christophe Le-Mevel and Andrew.
Coppel made a strong attack and Christophe drove the chase all the way to the finish. The break was caught on the finish line with Andrew right on the Christophe’s wheel, never in any serious trouble and locking in a solid win.
All our guys stuck together the whole stage and delivered a strong team performance!
More photos from the Tour de l’Ain:
