Dutch rider says the presence of four countrymen helped him decide to switch to the U.S.-registered team

The Garmin-Sharp rider takes the five-stage race by 12 seconds over Movistar's Sergio Pardilla Bellon

Garmin's Andrew Talansky continues to lead the Tour de l'Ain

• 1. Wouter Poels (Ned), Vacansoleil, 3:15:39
• 2. David Moncoutie (Fra), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 0:00
• 3. Thibaut Pinot (Fra), Française des Jeux, at 0:00
• 4. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Esp), Team RadioShack, at 0:00
• 5. Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra), Saur-Sojasun, at 0:03

• 1. Romain FEILLU, (FRA) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team, in 3:02:10
• 2. Steve CHAINEL, (FRA) BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 1
• 3. Tony GALLOPIN, (FRA) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 1
• 4. Nacer BOUHANNI, (FRA) Française des Jeux, at 1
• 5. John MURPHY, (USA) BMC Racing Team, at 1

• 1. Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Saur-Sojasun, 3:22:09
• 2. Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling, same time
• 3. Jean-Lou Païani (Fra) French National Espoirs, same time
• 4. Romain Hardy (Fra) Bretagne-Schuller, same time
• 5. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto, same time

Stephane Poulhies (Saur Sojasun) wins the first stage of the Tour de l'Ain as Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil) takes the lead.

Zubeldia scores in the 3km starter. HTC-Columbia's Tejay Van Garderen leads the Americans at eighth.

• 1. Haimar ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, (ESP) Team RadioShack, in 3:38
• 2. Wilco KELDERMAN, (NED), at 0
• 3. Laurent MANGEL, (FRA) Saur-Sojasun, at 0
• 4. Greg VAN AVERMAET, (BEL) Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 1
• 5. Matthieu BOULO, (FRA) Roubaix Lille Metropole, at 1

It's a relatively light week by European racing standards, but there are still some great events on the calendar.