Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) claimed the victory in a thrilling sprint finish on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday. Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) was a close second.
The dwindling peloton reeled in the final rider of the break Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) in the final metres of the roller coaster stage. Herregodts, amazing held on for third place.
"It was a difficult and nervous stage”, Laporte said.
"The last descent was dangerous, especially with Herregodts still in front. But the team kept Jonas and me in the lead. I got the chance today, and I have to thank my teammates for that. Jonas' lead-out was fantastic. This is an excellent start to the week for the team.”
Laporte’s victory came after a hectic final hour in which the field chased the breakaway under rainy conditions.
Thanks to his stage win, Laporte is the first leader of the eight day stage race.
How it unfolded
The peloton rolled out from the shores of Chambon-sur-Lac for the first 158km stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 2023, a roller coaster in the hills.
After one large loop, the stage finished with three laps of a circuit that includes the Côte du Rocher de l'Aigle, the last ascent crested with around 10km to go, before a descent to the finish and uphill kick to the line.
The five-rider break of the day formed after a fast opening 10km, and quickly established a gap of 1:20 to the peloton. The move included Dorian Godon (AG2R Citroën), Brent Van Moer (Lotto Dstny), Rune Herregodts (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Fabio Van den Bossche (Alpecin Deceuninck) and Donavan Grondin (Arkéa Samsic).
Bora-Hansgrohe and Jumbo-Visma set the pace at the front of the field, keeping the five escapees on a tight leash, giving them a maximum of 2:40 lead.
Rain and slippery conditions added extra challenges when riders arrived in Besse with 80km to go. Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty-Circus) went down in a crash and abandoned the race. Also involved were Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers), with the Briton retiring plus riders from Total Energies.
With two laps to go, Grondin and Van Den Bossche were dropped from the break, leaving three riders up front under pressure from the chasing peloton led by Bora-Hansgrohe.
With 30km to go, Soudal added a rider at the front bringing the gap down to 1:30 to the three riders in the break fighting for stage glory. They fought on but Soudal and Jumbo-Visma were determined to drop the sprinters.
On the last lap and the final climb and false-flat, Gordon and Van Moer cracked, leaving Herregodts alone out front.
He refused to give up and put in one last attack on the rain-soaked descent, keeping a 15-second gap as the kilometres ticked down. With 2.5km to go on the descent to the finish line he was still away and seemed set ot win.
The Belgian rider gave it everything in the final uphill kilometre but Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard did a vital turn on the front for Laporte and then he surged away to pass a dejected Herregodts just metres from the line.
Results
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