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).
Browning now leads the overall classification by seven seconds ahead of Pithie.
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.
Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis and TotalEnergies led the field into the final kilometres of the race, catching Plamondon with 5km to go, while Browning attacked in a last-ditch effort to stay ahead of the field.
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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