Tour de l'Ain

Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié , is an annual late season professional cycling stage race

Road bicycle racing

Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course .Historically, the most...

 held mid-August. The first Tour de l'Ain was held in 1989 and was organized by Dante Lavacca, Armand Peracca and Maurice Josserand. From 1989 to 1992 it was an amateur event. In 1993 it became open to professionals. In 1999 Cyclisme Organisation took over the organizing of the event and in the 1999 edition for the first time the climb of the Grand Colombier was included. The race had a 2.5 UCI status but was in 2002 promoted to the 2.3 category. Since the inception of the UCI ProTour and the UCI Continental circuits in 2005, the race has been classed as a 2.1 category race. The race has a mountainous profile and is held in the Jura Mountains

Jura mountains

The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...

 with the 1,534 metre high Grand Colombier as a decisive climb in the four day stage race.

Winners

External links

• Tour de l’Ain Official Website