Jefferson Alexander Cepeda wins stage two of the Tour de l’Ain

Our Ecuadorian pocket rocket will wear the leader’s yellow jersey and race to defend it all the way to the finish of tomorrow’s final stage. He is brimming with confidence after today’s victory.

“It was a great stage,” Cepeda said after celebrating his win. “We were very strong and worked very hard from the beginning on. We came here to win and we’ve won. I hope that I can defend the lead tomorrow. We’ve got a great team.”

Hugh Carthy set the stage for Cepeda’s victory today with a powerful attack on the Col de Portes. Stage two was always going to come down to a showdown on its slopes. After a fast and furious start out of Saint-Vulbas, the course crossed the Col des Fosses and Cote de Saillonhaz, before ascending to its apex on the slopes of the first-category mountain in the Jura. After a great effort from our team to get them to that point, Hugh launched a move halfway up that only Cepeda, Groupama-FDJ’s Michael Storer, and Lidl-Trek’s Kenny Ellisonde could follow. Over the summit, Carthy and Cepeda matched an attack from Storer and then tore down the wet, treacherous descent on the other side, while an elite group tried to catch them from behind. Unfortunately, Hugh slid out in a corner just under three kilometers before the finish. He got up and rolled in. After Hugh went down, Cepeda kept calm and then finished off their efforts with the composure of a veteran.

Under the red kite that marks one kilometer to go, he let Storer take the lead and then bided his time on his wheel. He waited and waited until Storer launched his sprint and then took off beside him just in time to pull ahead before the line. He celebrated his victory with his head held high.

“In the finale, I lost my teammate Carthy, but we got the win in the sprint, so we are happy with that,” Cepeda said.

Tomorrow’s final stage will be a tough one. There are seven categorized climbs on the route from Oyonnax to the finish on the summit of Lelex-Mont Jura.

Cepeda and his teammates will sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, we will race for the overall victory.