Critérium du Dauphiné: Tadej Pogačar wins stage 1 as Jonas Vingegaard rips up the script

Who else but Tadej Pogačar? On a day destined for the fast men, the world champion won an incredible opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, out-sprinting Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) out of a star-studded breakaway into Montluçon.

The five-man move, which also contained Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), was sparked by Vingegaard inside a chaotic final 6km filled with attacks after the last categorised climb.

Evenepoel worked the hardest in the move after bridging across late with a sense it could stay away, but he lacked the punch in the final sprint to come around Van der Poel, who opened things up and finished third behind the two GC stars.

Pogačar burst late out of the slipstream, with Vingegaard nearly pipping him to the line. The pair of champions shared a nice moment past the line, before the world champion high-fived two fans, making their day after clearly enjoying the late attack.

The bunch sprint was led in by Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech), but they were unable to deny the best rider in the world from taking yet another leader's yellow jersey, finishing on the same time as him just metres behind. The Tour de France is still weeks away, but the stars are already coming to the fore.

Was he expecting this? "No, I was not, I was all prepared to come back pretty fast to the bus after the finish, to take a shower, take a comfortable seat and enjoy the rest of the day, but I don't mind being here as well," said Pogačar in his winner's interview.

"I followed the moves on the steep part of the climb, and then Visma was clearly going for the stage win; they were trying with everyone to attack on the top. Fortunately, I had good legs and I covered all the attacks. Then, even Jonas, for the cherry on top, he attacked and that one was painful; luckily, it was downhill all the way to the finish, so I could recover a bit.

"[With] 2km to go I was thinking more about the sprint than just the GC. I knew Van der Poel was the fastest obviously in the group, but after a finish like this, you cannot count the rest out, they can be fast as well. I switched my focus, and it worked.

"I can go home from Dauphiné happy already, but I want to see how the shape will be in the TT and on the mountain stages. I cannot say after today that the shape is incredible, obviously it's good, but the real test is coming at the weekend."

He even had time to joke, recognising what a ridiculous achievement his continued success is. "Don't worry everybody, maybe I retire soon when my contract is finished [in 2030]."

How it unfolded

There was huge anticipation for the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné, with stage 1 taking the riders 195.8km from Domérat to Montluçon for an expected sprint finish for the first yellow jersey.

With GC stars Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) all at the start, the Dauphiné is the first look at all of the protagonists for the Tour de France together in a race this season.

New bikes and tech ready for cycling's biggest race also added to the excitement for the start, but when things kicked off out of the neutral zone, it was relatively calm.

A two-man break formed in the mostly flat opening phase, with Paul Ourselin (Cofidis) and Pierre Thierry (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) deciding to attack. They were allowed to build a three-minute advantage but were kept relatively close by Lidl-Trek and Israel-Premier Tech, who were pacing for their respective sprinters.

Thierry outlasted Ourselin, after making it to the first KOM sprints, leaving the former on his own with 54km to go, but the peloton was beginning to close in quickly.

The action kicked off as the race reached the penultimate ascent of the Côte de Buffon (0.6km at 8.8%), where EF Education-EasyPost decided to test everyone's legs with a move from long-range specialist Ben Healy and his compatriot Archie Ryan.

They weren't allowed any room to breathe, though, as suddenly the rainbow stripes of Pogačar responded, perhaps showing his intentions, which of course, prompted Vingegaard to be attentive and snap onto his wheel.

Things calmed, but it was a preview of the climb, which would arrive as the final characterised test of the stage, 8km from the finish in Montluçon.

Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) countered over the top of the calming down, with Thierry's day in front ending soon after the Brit bridged across to him. However, the Bahrain rider was soon back in with 7km to go, as the peloton ramped up in pace at the foot of the final climb.

Axel Laurence (Ineos Grenadiers) opened up the racing on the 600-metre steep ascent, but there was little separation with all of the favourites for GC following close behind. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) made a small move once it flattened out, but this prompted Van der Poel to respond, with Pogačar and Vingegaard again on his wheel, cancelling it out.

The big move, however, came from Vingegaard himself with a counter 5.5km from the finish. Pogačar and Van der Poel went with him, as did Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious). Noticing the danger, Evenepoel then blasted across solo on the flat.

All of the sprint teams behind struggled to find the numbers required to chase, with several small attacks only hurting the peloton's chances. By the time the race reached the flamme rouge, those in front had worked well enough that it looked as though they would make it.

Van der Poel in top condition would have cleaned up the GC stars in a sprint, but with his recent wrist fracture, he showed signs of weakness in the final sprint. He opened things up, but all of Evenepoel, Pogačar and Vingegaard were closing.

The former world champion faded, with the current rainbow jersey coming around him, Vingegaard too, with Pogačar claiming a famous victory to open up this year's Dauphiné, after a finish dominated by four of cycling's absolute best riders.

Tomorrow's stage from Prémilhat to Issoire features a similarly undulating parcours and could be one for the sprinters, but after today's dramatic events, who knows whether Pogačar and the rest of the superstars will decide whether it's a day for them.

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