Tour de l'Ain: Fergus Browning holds off sprinters to claim stage 1, takes leader's jersey

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Laurence Pithie sprints in for second, Tobias Müller third in Bourg-en-Bresse

A general view of Fergus Browning of Australia and Team Trinity Racing sprinting for the stage 1 win at Tour de l'Ain
A general view of Fergus Browning of Australia and Team Trinity Racing sprinting for the stage 1 win at Tour de l'Ain (Image credit: Getty Images)
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Breakaway rider Fergus Browning (Trinity Racing) narrowly held off the peloton to claim the stage 1 victory and the leader's jersey at the Tour de l'Ain in Bourg-en-Bresse. 

The Australian was part of an all-day breakaway and fought in the final kilometres of the race to take the win ahead of the bunch sprint won by runner-up Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and third-placed Tobias Müller (Rad-Net Oßwald).

The opening stage was a 137km race from Laiz to Bourg-en-Bresse that offered two category 4 climbs over Côte de Chaveyrait and Côte de Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, before the run-in to Bourg-en-Bresse.

Browning was part of an early breakaway with Robin Plamondon (CIC U Nantes Atlantique). Browning took the day's sprint bonus points and the mountain classification points on offer as the pair stretched their gap ahead of the peloton.

Coming into the final few hundred metres, the peloton had Browning in its sights. Groupama-FDJ's Pithie launched his sprint, but he wasn't fast enough to catch Browning, who narrowly claimed the stage win.

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