Mads Pedersen wins the sprint on the first stage and takes the yellow jersey

The Dane dominated the other sprinters in the peloton on Sunday, at the end of a very calm opening stage before a week of racing which promises to be arduous, with five finishes at the top.

The effort was brief. After four hours of a peaceful Sunday stroll, on the flat roads of Allier, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) controlled the peloton’s sprint to win the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in Saint-Pourçain-sur- Sioule, Sunday June 2. He beat Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) and Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) on the line.

With a fairly poor field of sprinters, the Dane Mads Pedersen is the big favorite for the group finishes. The 2019 world champion, double stage winner on the Tour de France (in 2022 and 2023), held his place to achieve his first success on the roads of the Critérium du Dauphiné, for his second participation.

Two men opened the road for nearly 160 kilometers, without foreseeing victory. Starting from the very first cables, Mark Donovan (Q36.5) and the Frenchman Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) livened up the stage, but never had more than a four-minute lead over the peloton. The Briton was the quickest to the top of the three climbs listed. He will wear the first best climber’s polka dot jersey on Monday. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) also tried his luck 12 kilometers from the finish, without success.

The favorites had a quiet day. The starting list is very full of contenders for the yellow jersey, with Remco Evenepoel, Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step), Primoz Roglic (Visma-Lease a bike), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and others, despite the absence of the last two winners of the Tour de France. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) is on training in Tignes and is still recovering from his fall in the Tour of the Basque Country, like Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) who flew over the Giro.

On Monday, the contenders for victory will have a first opportunity to decide between themselves at the Col de la Loge, place of arrival of the second stage, preceded by the hill of Saint-Georges-en-Couzan (7 km at 5.8%) and the Col de la Croix Ladret (3.1 km at 6.1%). The punchers could also have their card to play on these moderate slopes, from Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) to Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease a bike) via Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).