Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France.

G.P. de l'Amitié

The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over four or five days in early September and served as a preparation for the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

, thus attracting also international riders, especially the Spanish team. The course ran straight across the French Alpes, starting in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

, and finishing in

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...

, the capital of the

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

region, north of

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, at the base of the Jura mountain range. Main difficulty was the mountain finish on

Les Orres Les Orres (; ) is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France. It is chiefly known for its ski resort: 38 alpine skiing runs, of runs. Geography Climate Les Orres has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classific ...

. In uneven years the course was reversed: from Bourg to Nice. As the Tour de l'Avenir threatened to be cancelled in 1976, the G.P. de l'Amitié jumped in and served as replacement, expanding the race to nine days. The execution of this event strained the organisation so much that it had to back down. From 1978 onwards the race merely had a national field of participants and was conducted only in the Provence Alpes, starting and finishing in Nice, still with the mountain finish on Les Orres. The organisation recovered however, and opened their race to professionals in 1986. A lot of French riders used this tough race – from Nice, via

Valloire Valloire (; , ) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The ski resort Valloire-Galibier is located in the commune, at the foot of the Col du Télégraphe and next to the ski resort ...

(over the Galibier), to Combloux – as a preparation for the Tour de l'Avenir.

Tour de l'Ain

In 1989 new organizers came, Dante Lavacca, Armand Peracca, and Maurice Josserand. They took the race back to its roots, to Bourg-en-Bresse, and changed its name into Tour de l'Ain. 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 (pro-am) status but was in 2002 promoted to the professional 2.3 category. Since the inception of the UCI ProTour and the UCI Continental circuits in 2005, the race has been classed into category 2.1 (in which all former 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 races were combined). The race, which travels through the Ain departement into the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...

, combines both sprinting and mountainous stages. The 1,534 metre high Grand Colombier has featured as a decisive climb in the stage race. The 2018 version consisted of three stages; while previous versions of the event contained four or five stages (including prologues).

Winners

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.tourdelain.com Cycle races in France Recurring sporting events established in 1989 1989 establishments in France UCI Europe Tour races