Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) sprinted to victory in stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday ahead of Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) who rounded out the podium in second and third place. In winning the first stage, Pedersen also took the overall GC and wears the yellow jersey going into stage 2, however, it is unlikely he will be able to hold on to it.
Pedersen’s thoughts afterwards about whether he can keep the yellow jersey were realistic. “Maybe during the week, but I don’t think tomorrow, I think it’s too hard in the finale. Now being in the lead of the race, I don’t think anyone will let me in the break as well. I think tomorrow, we control to respect the jersey and we also have one GC guy here, who we have to take care of and that’s my job from now until stage five.”
How it happened
Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) got away 5km into the stage and secured maximum points on the first two categorized climbs of the day before being joined by Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), who bridged up from the peloton.
Sprinter teams Lidl-Trek and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale monitored the gap of the two leaders and made sure it didn’t grow too large. With 16km to go, the duo was caught and the peloton slowed down and teams began to position themselves for the last 12 kilometers. With around 12km to go, Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) attacked with several riders but was quickly shut down by the peloton.
As the final kilometers wound down, Lidl-Trek began to set up with Ryan Gibbons leading out Pedersen in the the last half kilometer. At around 200m, Pedersen came off Gibbons and launched his sprint as Bennett attempted to come around him, but Pedersen was too fast and won easily by a bike length.
RESULTS
Stage 1: Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule > Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule (172.5km)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
