French rider Alex Baudin took the biggest win of his career on stage 1 of the renamed Critérium du Dauphiné – now the Tour-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – surviving in front after more than 120km in the day's early breakaway and 28km solo.
Baudin was part of a 10-rider group that emerged on the first uncategorised climb out of Vizille on Sunday, but emerged as the strongest on the final climb of the day, easily dropping George Bennett (NSN) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United) as he went alone.
At this point, the lead trio's gap was around 40 seconds, but by the time Baudin reached the crest of the Côte de Rousset, he had eked it out to more than a minute, allowing him to stay away as a splintered peloton failed to chase him down.
Despite controlling much of the day, Paul Seixas' Decathlon CMA CGM team didn't pace the final climb all out, seemingly happy to see the stage win and responsibilities of being the race leader go up the road.
But they were countered and caught on the dragging road to the line, with a 10-rider group containing Netcompany Ineos GC duo Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin getting up the road. This small group was led in by Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) in second at the line, and Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM) took third, 32 seconds behind Baudin.
The main GC group lost 12 seconds on the line, with Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) leading the likes of Seixas, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) across the line.
"I cannot describe the feeling right now. I don't think I realise it yet; it's just amazing to win here and with my family here. One hour from home, it's just crazy," said Baudin.
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"I hope I can carry this confidence and shape into the Tour de France in July. Of course, I'll want to defend the jersey as long as possible. It's not going to be easy tomorrow with this super long stage, but a yellow jersey you have to defend it, so we're going to do everything."
Baudin in the leader's yellow jersey (Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
The race may have a new name, but it was business as usual at the Dauphiné at the start of stage 1, with a difficult opening hour giving no one a chance to settle. The riders climbed almost straight out of neutral from Vizille, with several attacks being launched.
An initial group of seven were caught back before a new group of 10 formed a small lead on the uncategorised climbing section to Monestier-de-Clermont: Alex Baudin, Alastair Mackellar (EF Education-EasyPost), Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal-QuickStep), Raul Garcia Pierna (Movistar), Georg Zimmerman (Lotto-Intermarché), Matteo Vercher (TotalEnergies), Alex Diaz (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Nadav Raisberg (NSN), Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United).
Paul Seixas' Decathlon CMA CGM team made their ambitions clear, as they came to the front to control on the approach to the first climb of the stage, the Col de l'Arzelier (8.6km at 5.7%).
But one of their climbing domestiques, Matthew Riccitello, was dropped early on the day, with Seixas revealing that he was unwell in his pre-stage interviews. Not long after, the young American was forced to abandon the race.
Raisberg and Reinderink were dropped from the breakaway after fighting out the intermediate sprint, but the former soon had a teammate coming across, as George Bennett attacked from the peloton to join the break. This left nine in front over the Col de l'Arzelier with just under a two-minute lead and 100km to race.
Seixas' Decathlon team on the front of the peloton during stage 1 (Image credit: Getty Images)
Three climbs lined the final 60km of the stage, and with Decathlon still controlling on the front, the gap was down to 1:25 with 52km to go. By this point, several riders had already started to drop, notably João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Baudin, Bennett, and Braz Afonso emerged as the three strongest climbers in the break over the Col de Vence (5.1km at 6%), the penultimate categorised ascent of the stage, and Decathlon were continuing to work behind with the gap at 2:00 with 45km to go.
Heading onto the final climb, just the trio still remained in front, but with just a 40-second lead and a change coming in the peloton with Lidl-Trek and UAE overtaking Deathlon for the front position.
Baudin attacked solo from the break with 28km remaining on the Côte de Rousset (8.2 km at 7.6%), extending his lead to the peloton out to more than a minute as Bennett and Braz Afonso returned to the bunch.
The final climb was relatively underwhelming considering how hard it looked on paper, with the pace really coming out of the chase in the peloton, allowing Baudin to crest the climb with a 1:20 lead and a mostly downhill run to the line remaining.
Small counter moves were launched by the likes of Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but neither Seixas, Isaac del Toro (UAE), nor any of the top GC teams wanted to fully commit, somewhat happy to let the stage win go up the road.
Seixas and Del Toro in the peloton (Image credit: Getty Images)
Racing did start to split, however, on the dragging approach to the finish, with Netcompany Ineos very interested, alongside Luke Plapp, but as a group of nine chasers broke away, it threatened to undo Baudin's hold on the stage 30 secs up the road.
The chasing group was made up of Plapp, Vermaerke, Ben Tulett, Bruno Armirail (Visma-Lease a Bike), Oscar Onley, Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos), Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM), Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ United), and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
They worked relatively well, but were unable to bring back the lone Frenchman, who crossed the line 32 seconds in front for victory. Their gap to the chasing group also lessened in the finale, as Ayuso and Seixas upped the pace, and Del Toro surged to the line to limit the loss to just 12 seconds.
Debruyne and Bisiaux battle out the sprint for second on stage 1 (Image credit: Getty Images)
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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