French rider Stephane Poulhies edged a bunch sprint finish to win the second stage of the Tour de l’Ain on Wednesday.

It marked the first professional stage win for the 25-year-old Saur Sojasun rider who completed the 144.4km stage between Lagnieu and Saint-Vulbas in 3hr 22min 9sec, nosing across the line just ahead of compatriot Romain Feillu of the Vacansoleil team.

Feillu takes over the yellow jersey with a four second advantage over prologue winner Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia of the RadioShack team.

Thursday’s third stage sees the riders travelling the 134.7km from Villars-les-Dombes to Trevoux.

Stage:
1. Stephane Poulhies (FRA/Saur Sojasun) 3hr 22min 9sec, 2. Romain Feillu
(FRA/Vacansoleil) at same time, 3. Jean Lou Paiani (FRA/Equipe de France)
s.t., 4. Romain Hardy (FRA/Bretagne/Schuller) s.t., 5. Greg Van Avermaet
(BEL/Omega pharma-Lotto) s.t.

Overall:
1. Romain Feillu (FRA/Vacansoleil) 3hr 25min 43sec, 2. Haimar Zubeldia
(ESP/Radioshack) at 4sec, 3. Wilco Kelderman (P-B/RaboBank) 4, 4. Laurent
Mangel (FRA/Saur Sojasun) 4, 5. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/Omega Pharma Lotto) 5.

File Photo: CorVos