Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team‘s Nicolas Prodhomme has taken a very impressive win on stage 2 of the 2025 Tour de l’Ain, outkicking Cian Uijtdebroeks in a two-up fight for the line after a potentially decisive day in the mountains.
Heading into the final 50km of the day, four riders were out ahead of the peloton. Those being: Sergio Samitier (Cofidis), Thomas Champion (St Michel – Preference Home – Auber93), Gianluca Brambilla (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Jaakko Hänninen (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur). Samitier and Brambilla proved the strongest of the break, and as they began the Cat 1 Col de Menthières with around 30km to go, the duo still had around 1:45 advantage over the peloton.
Both attackers were caught and passed by the top of the Col de Menthières though, with a new duo of Nicolas Prodhomme and Cian Uijtdebroeks entering the final 20km of the day clear by around a minute at the head of the race. Whilst the categorised climbing was over after that, in the final 10km, the gradient was steadily rising towards the finish line. Prodhomme and Uijtdebroeks were rolling together well though, and more than just holding off the chase, actually extending their advantage, 1:50 clear at 5km to go.
As the pair then started to play cat and mouse in the fight for the stage, that time gap did start to come down, but the stage win was never in doubt and in the end it was Prodhomme who started the sprint from the front and as Uijtdebroeks tied up behind, victory was the Decathlon rider’s.