Being a prologue specialist, Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar) was one of the favourites for the Tour de l'Ain opener. After leading the race for a while, he had to settle for fourth.

"The course suited me well," he told Directvelo. "I did not make any mistakes so I have no regrets. The differences are minimal. I was beaten by stronger riders. 

"I did La Polynormande and then I did the Tour of Denmark. It was going pretty well. I'm here for the next two days and then I will have to work in the mountains. That is not my specialty, but I should participate in the Vuelta. 

"We have no real sprinter in the team. If we wait for the sprint against Nacer Bouhanni, we will be beaten. We will try to animate things."