Critérium du Dauphiné stage 1 LIVE – Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel back in action on expected sprint day

Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech) visits his team car for assistance, as he tinkers with his new aero Factor prototype. He removes his own bottle cage with an allen key borrowed from the team car - impressive!

40km to go

As the peloton take their foot off the gas, Thierry is allowed to extend his lead back up to 50 seconds. There is a sense of control in the bunch, however, and the solo leader can expect to be closed down rapidly whenever the peloton decide to begin racing.

With 50km remaining on the stage, the catch is imminent - the bunch holds steady around 17 seconds behind Thierry, pacing their efforts.

In the meantime there has been a mechanical issue for Visma-Lease a Bike's Per Strand Hagenes. He is back on his way now.

50km to go

A longer distance stands between the bunch and the next categorised climb - around 15km. It looks likely the race will be on by then, with the lone leader Thierry now just 28 seconds clear of the chasing pack.

His work successfully completed for the day, Paul Ourselin returns to the peloton - he will wear the polka dot jersey on stage 2.

Ourselin takes a fourth KOM point, ensuring he will take the jersey at the end of the day, as just three further points remain.

His compatriot and breakaway companion Thierry launches off solo, as the bunch close them down just 40 seconds in arrears.

The next climb is underway. The Côte de Domérat is just under 2km in length and the breakaway duo will once again contest the KOM, while behind, the peloton are closing them down rapidly - the gap is down to just 40 seconds now.

Results of the intermediate sprint at Montluçon:

1. Pierre Thierry (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), 10 pts / 3''
2. Paul Ourselin (Cofidis), 6 pts / 2''
3. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), 4 pts / 1''

60km to go

The gap to the breakaway reduces to under a minute for the first time since they got away.

The points go towards the green jersey classification but crucially, there are also 3, 2 and 1 bonus seconds available for the general classification. 

The breakaway approaches the intermediate sprint. They ride over the finish line for the first time, and they don't contest the sprint, Ourselin allowing Thierry to take the full ten points. There will be four points remaining for whoever wants to go for it, from the bunch behind. They are approaching now, the gap reducing to 1:15 under the increased pace.

Three riders go for the points, with Visma leading out Matteo Jorgenson, but he misses out to Nils Pollitt (UAE Team Emirates), the German coming through on the line to take the final four points.

Following the climb, the peloton are riding tempo, arranged in colour blocks, and they have allowed the gap to grow once again to just over 1:30.

There's a lengthy verbal exchange between the two Frenchmen at the front of the race, before they launch ahead of the third KOM point of the day. Ourselin is clearly the strongest of the pair, and he launches up the climb, distancing Thierry and taking the third available KOM point, to make it three out of three. 

Sadly for his teammate Toumire, the race is already over. The rider abandons following the crash he suffered earlier.

70km to go

The gap to the leading duo has tumbled, and currently stands at 1:10, with the next climb approaching in just over a kilometre.

Toumire has been distanced following a crash at the back of the bunch. 

One rider, Hugo Toumire of Cofidis, has been distanced from the bunch, and rides alone a minute behind the peloton.

As the gap closes to 1:45, Ourselin takes the second KOM point to double his lead.

There is just over 8km to the next climb, as the race enters the first of two loops of a circuit around Montluçon. The next climb, the Côte de Buffon, precedes the day's intermediate sprint point, as the bunch cross the finish line for the first time.

Next up the Côte d'Argenty, and the gap holds steady at 1:55. This is a chance for Ourselin to increase his lead in the KOM, or for Thierry to even the score.

80km to go

Today is one of the few opportunities for the sprinters at the race - and there are very few pure sprinters on the start list, as a result. Lidl-Trek have brought the immense power of Jonathan Milan while Israel-Premier Tech have Pascal Ackermann, who took his first victory in two years at the Classique Dunkerque last month.

Beyond that, there is Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty) and Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), along with a number of riders with a fast finish, should the opportunity occur - the likes of Axel Laurance and Sam Watson from Ineos Grenadiers, Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates) and of course, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The former world champion is riding despite having broken his wrist in his first mountain-biking race of the season at Nové Mesto just two weeks ago.

And it's Ourselin who takes the first KOM point for Cofidis, opening his account in that competition. There are six more points up for grabs today, with the climbs coming thick and fast from now on. The next one arrives in just 5km.

Onto the climb!

Ourselin and Thierry head onto the 2.6km Côte de Sainte-Thérence. They will battle for the first KOM point of the race.

They maintain their advantage of 1:55 over the rest of the bunch.

The leading duo of Ourselin and Thierry drop down a short descent leading into the first climb of the day, which is now less than two kilometres away.

Their gap has dropped just below two minutes.

90km to go

Vingegaard's bike isn't the only machine that's been drawing the eye out in France. Indeed, Jake Stewart's (Israel Premier-Tech) insane new Factor has been raising eyebrows, ahead of today's stage.

How did they keep this a secret? Insane new Factor prototype blows minds at the Dauphiné

The first climb of the day is just a few kilometres away now, and the gap to the break still stands at 2:13. 

With 100 kilometres remaining today's race, the riders are almost at the halfway mark.

The breakaway's advantage has reduced to 2:15.

100km to go

Find out more about Jonas Vingegaard's new Cervélo S5 below. 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it: Jonas Vingegaard spotted aboard all-new Cervélo S5 at the Dauphiné

With just over 15km remaining to the first climb of the day, the gap to the breakaway stands at 2:25.

Though everyone is understandably expecting the fight for the general classification to come down to the titans of the sport in Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, there are plenty of other times with an interest in their performance throughout the week. 

Some of the other candidates looking to spring a surprise include Enric Mas (Movistar), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and a second rider for Visma Lease-a-Bike, Matteo Jorgenson. In fact, the American indicated earlier in the season he may be given the opportunity to go for the GC at this race, but much will depend on how Vingegaard is progressing, particularly in view of the fact that this is his first race back since his crash at the Volta Catalunya in April.

The average speed after two hours of racing - 41km/h.

The gap to the lead duo has dipped below two minutes once again, and hovers around 1:50 now.

110km to go

The gap is once again steady at 2:55.

The first climb of the day, the Côte de Sainte-Thérence, is 2.6km in length, at an average gradient of 4.6%. It could provide a launchpad for teams looking to try and break up the bunch or drop the pure sprinters.

The gap between the breakaway and the bunch is fluctuating - having dropped once again below two minutes, it's now gone back up to 3:10.

120km to go

While the stage has continued at a steady pace so far, the complexion of the race will change somewhat as the bunch turns west and begins to head back north towards the finish. 

The seven categorised climbs of the day will draw out riders seeking points in the KOM competition, and may encourage teams without pure sprinters in their ranks to try and increase the pace in order to make the race hard for the likes of Jonathan Milan and Pascal Ackermann. The first of those climbs comes with 88km to go, in around 35km time.

The gap has pushed back out over three minutes and now stands at 3:05 between the leading duo of Ourselin and Thierry, and the pursuing bunch.

130km to go

It should also be noted that this is the final race in the career of Romain Bardet (Team Picnic-PostNL). The beloved French rider announced last year that 2025 would be his final season, and rather unconventionally, he opted to conclude his career mid-season, on his home roads at the Dauphiné. 

It will doubtless be a poignant and emotional week for Bardet and for the legion of fans both in his home nation and beyond, who have supported him on his 13 year pro career.

The peloton seem to have realised that there's still a very long way to go, and have relaxed the pace somewhat, allowing the French duo at the head of the race to extend their lead back out to almost three minutes.

140km to go

The gap drifts back out to 2:25 as the riders tackle a short uncategorised climb on today's slightly undulating profile.

Today's stage takes place wholly in central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

50 kilometres down, and the gap continues to come down, dipping just below two minutes.

The average pace for the first hour of racing was 42km/h.

With 144km remaining, the gap has reduced to just 2:00 - the peloton are in danger of catching the break too soon, so may look to ease back on the tempo.

Our breakaway pair are both debutants at the Dauphiné this year. Paul Ourselin is 31 years old, and has yet to win in his pro career. He joined Cofidis at the beginning of this season, having spent his entire professional career prior to that with TotalEnergies.

Pierre Thierry is 22 years old. He turned pro with Arkéa-B&B Hotels last September, after being promoted from their continental team. He too has yet to record a professional victory.

150km to go

The gap holds steady at 3:00 as Matis Louvel (Israel-Premier Tech) and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) lead the bunch behind.

The peloton have deemed the breakaway were a little too far out of reach for their liking, so they've reeled them back to 3:00.

In terms of the route, as always the Critérium du Dauphiné offers a variety of stages, backloaded with mountain challenges. Following today's undulating stage, which is expected to end in a sprint, tomorrow's hilly stage is slightly tougher, and could potentially present an opportunity for a breakaway.

The same applies to stage 3, another hilly stage with a series of climbs that could separate the bunch and potentially invite early action in the general classification. Stage 4 is an individual time trial, while stage 5's profile is one of two halves - first flat, then hilly - a reduced bunch sprint seems the most likely outcome.

Stage 6 sees the race's first summit finish into Combloux, before the Queen Stage a day later which takes in a series of classic Alpine passes - the Cols de la Madeleine and Croix de Fer, and finishing on the Valmeinier 1800. 

The concluding stage finishes atop the Col du Mont-Cenis, and by then, we will have a clearer picture of what we can perhaps expect in a month's time at Le Tour.

As for the week ahead, it's set to offer a fascinating insight into the form of the three top favourites for this year's Tour de France, with just four weeks to go before Le Grand Départ in Lille. 

Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel have all been cagey in their response to the media ahead of the race, and with Vingegaard not having raced since his crash in Catalunya in April, Pogačar not racing since the conclusion of the Ardennes Classics, and Evenepoel since the Tour of Romandie it will be interesting to see how each approaches the race.

The race situation is stable currently, with Lidl-Trek in control of the pace-setting. The breakaway duo have a gap of 3:20 on the peloton.

Puncture for Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech). 

170km to go

Now the race situation has settled down, let's take a look at what's on the menu for the peloton today in terms of the course.

It's expected to be a day for the sprinters, despite a series of climbing challenges in the latter part of the day. Currently, the peloton is covering a long, relatively flat section of the course, which takes up around the first 100 kilometres on the profile.

From there, the race takes in seven category 4 climbs along the way to the finish line. The first two are the longest, before enter a circuit around Montluçon, so if some of the bunch find themselves losing touch they may have time to get back to the group ahead of the fight for the stage victory.

Our two French riders have been allowed up the road and the bunch have settled in to the race, with Lidl-Trek leading the pack on behalf of their sprinter, Jonathan Milan. They've been joined by Israel-Premier Tech, who have Pascal Ackermann among their number for today's expected sprint finish in Montluçon.

Two riders are making a move - Paul Ourselin of Cofidis and Pierre Thierry of Arkea-B&B Hotels have managed to open up a 20-second gap.

Lidl-Trek are driving the chase behind.

It's the first time we get to see the collective winners of the past five Tours, Pogačar and Vingegaard, race since last season's French Grand Tour. It will be a duel when they get to the mountains, but it was all smiles at the start in Domérat.

The Dauphiné is always one of the most anticipated one-week stage races of the season, as one of the key form-markers for the Tour de France, but it's even more special in 2025, with all of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) all taking the start.

Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the opening stage of this year's Critérium du Dauphiné!