Just like Jake Stewart, Michael Storer did it again on the Tour de l’Ain! Just as he did in the 2021 edition, the Aussie climber took the race’s final stage and general classification on Wednesday, after a dominant performance towards Lélex Monts-Jura. Following excellent work by his teammates, the rider of the Groupama-FDJ went with more than twenty-five kilometres to go and no one was able to prevent him from achieving the double victory. He then brought the 12th and 13th wins of the season to the team. Rudy Molard also finished the race in fourth position.
The Groupama-FDJ squad still had 137 kilometres and 3,000 meters of elevation to turn the Tour de l’Ain around on Wednesday. The closing stage took the riders from Oyonnax to Lélex Monts-Jura, and in the aftermath of a frustrating second place for Michael Storer, they first had to make sure the Australian had recovered from the crash that occurred after the line on Tuesday. “That was the big question mark this morning”, confirmed Michael. “Last night, I was a bit worried about how I was going to sleep. When I woke up, I felt a little sore but ok. I told the guys that I would give the word if we should go or not halfway through the race”. “We remained careful”, confirmed Benoît, “but Michael told us during the briefing that we could count on him. From there, our strategy was to put EF Education-EasyPost under pressure. It could be by putting Reuben or Rudy in the breakaway, or by taking the race in hand. In the end, five guys found themselves in front, we weren’t there, but the leader’s team still had to set a good pace because one of the fugitives wasn’t far overall. This situation really suited us.” Shortly after halfway, the breakaway therefore only had a minute lead while Michael Storer gave the green light to his teammates.
“We went all-in”, Reuben Thompson
Fifty-three kilometres from Lélex Monts-Jura, Groupama-FDJ took command of the bunch and never gave it back. “We wanted to make the race as hard as possible and we had decided to be positioned in the downhill at km78 and then push in the Côte de Giron”, explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It was like a textbook, we did exactly what we wanted to do”. “We had a plan and we executed it perfectly”, also said Reuben Thompson, who was wearing the white jersey today. “We didn’t want to have any regrets tonight, so we went all-in to win with Michael. Fabian and Jake set us up perfectly on the narrow descent before Enzo did a super pull all the way to the bottom of the main climb of the day.” Thanks to Enzo Paleni’s pace, the peloton was reduced to less than thirty men with almost fifty kilometres to go. “The goal was to start eliminating riders and making the race hard”, insisted Benoît. “We didn’t want to wait for the last climb and be like “if we had known…” at the finish. We took a risk, but it was worth it. We didn’t want to finish second and fifth overall, but try everything to win, even if it meant losing everything”. Enzo Paleni therefore kept control until the bottom of the major climb of Menthières (9.1 km at 6.3%), where Reuben Thompson then Rudy Molard also came into play.
“The team surpassed itself”, Benoît Vaugrenard
“It’s pretty rare, but everything happened exactly the way we planned it during the briefing”, commented Benoît. “Michael had also warned us. He was self-confident, was confident with his legs. In the last climb, he kept telling Reuben and Rudy to pace up. Obviously, it motivates you even more and the team surpassed itself”. “I did my best to make it hard before Rudy did the last pull for Michael,” Reuben said. “When he is confident and has legs like this, we always had confidence in him”. With 26.5 kilometres to go, after some great pre-work by the whole team, Michael Storer therefore made a single attack, but it proved to be enough to drop the yellow jersey, Jefferson Cepeda. Kenny Elissonde managed to hang on to the wheel for a few minutes, but he too was forced to let the Australian fly away. From then on, the Groupama-FDJ rider kept on widening his lead. The latter was already more than a minute at the top of the Menthières climb. Then, the 26-year-old climber took no risk in the final downhill before the last, slightly uphill twelve kilometres to reach the finish. Always in control and well above the competition, he eventually reached the finish line as a winner, two minutes before his runner-up, with a big smile that made up for the disappointing outcome from Tuesday.
“I’m so happy I could finish it off,” Michael Storer
“I’m speechless, it’s incredible,” he said at the finish. “I knew I was in good shape before this race, and the team knew it too. We had a good plan, and we had such good cohesion. It’s pretty rare to have such a good group of guys. They did a perfect pace, and it was so nice to see. I really wanted to do my best today. It was great to see them so motivated and ready to give everything to attack. I’m so happy I could finish it off. I just wished the finish was twenty kilometers sooner (smiles)”. As in 2021, Michael Storer therefore not only won the stage, but also the general classification: his first wins with Groupama-FDJ, in the best possible way. “It was quite impressive”, said Benoît. “It was the top version of Michael. He was so motivated today. He knew this stage, he won it two years ago by doing a similar solo. It’s his race, it’s a period that suits him well. It’s very satisfying for him and for us because we come away with two stages and the overall. We could hardly do better. It’s a great record, but I’ll remember the team’s performance. Everyone did a great job. We won two stages with two different guys, in the sprint and in the mountains. I’m very satisfied. It was a pleasure to be at the head of this super, motivated and united group”. The road captain Rudy Molard also took fourth place overall while Groupama-FDJ won the team classification. A very successful stay indeed.
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