Groupama – FDJ has absolutely dominated on the opening stage of the 2025 Tour de l’Ain, as Tom Donnenwirth powered to the win in a bunch sprint, with teammates David Gaudu and Lorenzo Germani taking 2nd and 4th, respectively.
The trio of Kenny Molly (Van Rysel Roubaix), Yoel Habteab (BIKE AID) and Julian Borresch (REMBE | rad-net) broke free of the peloton early to form the breakaway. Having been kept on a controlled leash for the entire day though, with 34km to still to go, a Team Visma | Lease a Bike led peloton swallowed up the attacking trio with the minimum of fuss.
There was no slowing of the pace though, as on the Col de Portes, Visma’s relentless pace-setting began to take a toll. In fact, as Ben Tulett and Cian Uijtdebroeks began to ride away, only Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team’s Nicolas Prodhomme was able to keep contact at the front. After that move was nullified by the chasers soon after though, with 10km to go, only the lone figure of Oliver Mattheis was out ahead of the main contenders.
With 3km to go, Matthies was still dangling around 5-6 seconds ahead of the peloton and not giving up. At 2km to go though, the German’s brave attack was finally ended. Then came the sprint finale and in the fight for the victory, it was Groupama – FDJ’s Tom Donnenwirth who took victory ahead of Andrea Vendrame.