Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won the bunch sprint on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné to don the first leader's jersey of the race.
The Dane led from the front in the fast finish, holding off Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) at the end of the 172.5-kilometre stage starting and finishing in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule.
Pedersen profited from the work of teammate Alex Kirsch, who kept the pace high heading into the final kilometre, Carlos Verona, Ryan Gibbons and Toms Skujins, who put him in the perfect position to win the stage.
"Carlos did super good there pulling - it is not easy even with two guys who are going quite fast in the beginning," Pedersen said. "Alex was controlling this lead-out to perfection and, of course, Toms and Ryan - they also need the power to deliver it - but Toms is doing an incredible job. The same with Alex, and Ryan also delivered perfect today so lead out to perfection I would say."
Pedersen will wear the Maillot Jaune heading into stage 2 but his lead of the Dauphiné will most likely end on the summit finish on the Col de la Loge.
"I think it's too hard in the final," Pedersen said of the coming stage. "Now with being in the lead of the race, I don't think anyone will let me in a break as well. So I think tomorrow we will control to respect the jersey and then we also have one GC guy here [Tao Geoghegan Hart] we have to take care of them, and that's my job until stage 5."
The win was Pedersen's first in the Dauphiné in his second participation in the race and comes after an extended break, with his last race being Paris-Roubaix in April.
"I had a good time off and a good preparation for this and the Tour," Pedersen said to CyclingPro.net before the stage.
"It's a different approach than last year. I was staying home and training hard to be ready - no training camps or anything, just spent time with my wife and focussed on training."
How It Unfolded
The opening stage of the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné rolled out of Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule with the anticipation of seeing Tour de France favourites Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) for the first time since their crash at the Itzulia Basque Country in April. Today's stage is the next phase of their respective comebacks, the moment they find out more about how ready they will be for the Tour in a few weeks.
This stage, however, was not for the General Classification contenders to aim at. It was more suited to the tough sprinters in the bunch, with Mads Pedersen an outstanding favourite.
Most of the climbing in the stage came in the opening 50 kilometres, which included all three of the day's classified climbs. Mark Donovan attacked early on by himself, taking the points on the opening two climbs of the Côte de Jenzat and Côte de Gannat before being joined by Arkéa - B&B Hotels' Mathis Le Berre. The duo held an advantage which yo-yoed between three and four minutes for the next 70 kilometres.
Donovan also took the points on the final climb of the day, the Côte de Chouvigny, to make sure that he would be wearing the King of the Mountains jersey on the following stage.
The duo worked well together throughout the day. Le Berre won the intermediate sprint into Chantelle with 95km to go as they rolled through the countryside of central France.
Lidl-Trek and Decathlon-AG2R led the chase, hoping to set up a sprint for Mads Pedersen and Sam Bennett respectively. They controlled the gap, bringing it under two minutes as they progressed into the final 50 kilometres.
There was a crash for multiple riders with 21km to go. Q36.5's Jimmy Whelan was the worst affected and would be forced to abandon the race.
The catch was imminent as the race played out on exposed narrow roads through agricultural land, and was made with 16 kilometres to go. The GC teams mobbed the front on the tricky roads; Ineos Grenadiers, UAE Team Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohe were all particularly attentive.
Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Harrison Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost) made speculative efforts off the front in the closing stages, but nothing would deny the sprint teams on what is their best opportunity of a stage win all week.
As the sprint drew nearer, Decathlon-AG2R and Uno X Mobility took control of the lead-out. Lidl-Trek were biding their time before hitting the front with 1.5km to go through Toms Skujins. Alex Kirsch and then Ryan Gibbons put Pedersen in the perfect position enabling him to launch his kick with less than 200 metres to go.
Bennett tried to come around Pedersen in the final 50 metres but was unable to do so, meaning that the Dane would wear the Maillot Jaune going into stage two.
