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Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) received the bunch dash on stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné to don the primary chief’s jersey of the race.
The Dane led from the entrance within the quick end, holding off Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Hugo Web page (Intermarché-Wanty) on the finish of the 172.5-kilometre stage beginning and ending in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule.
Pedersen profited from the work of teammate Alex Kirsch, who stored the tempo excessive heading into the ultimate kilometre, Carlos Verona, Ryan Gibbons and Toms Skujins, who put him within the good place to win the stage.
“Carlos did tremendous good there pulling – it isn’t straightforward even with two guys who’re going fairly quick to start with,” Pedersen stated. “Alex was controlling this lead-out to perfection and, after all, Toms and Ryan – additionally they want the ability to ship it – however Toms is doing an unbelievable job. The identical with Alex, and Ryan additionally delivered good in the present day so lead out to perfection I might say.”
Pedersen will put on the Maillot Jaune heading into stage 2 however his lead of the Dauphiné will probably finish on the summit end on the Col de la Loge.
“I believe it is too laborious within the closing,” Pedersen stated of the approaching stage. “Now with being within the lead of the race, I do not assume anybody will let me in a break as effectively. So I believe tomorrow we’ll management to respect the jersey after which we even have one GC man right here [Tao Geoghegan Hart] we’ve to handle them, and that is my job till stage 5.”
The win was Pedersen’s first within the Dauphiné in his second participation within the race and comes after an prolonged break, along with his final race being Paris-Roubaix in April.
“I had fun off and an excellent preparation for this and the Tour,” Pedersen stated to CyclingPro.web earlier than the stage.
“It is a totally different strategy than final yr. I used to be staying house and coaching laborious to be prepared – no coaching camps or something, simply frolicked with my spouse and focussed on coaching.”
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 primary time since their crash on the Itzulia Basque Nation in April. Right now’s stage is the following part of their respective comebacks, the second they discover out extra about how prepared they are going to be for the Tour in a number of weeks.
This stage, nonetheless, was not for the Common Classification contenders to goal at. It was extra suited to the robust sprinters within the bunch, with Mads Pedersen an excellent favorite.
Many of the climbing within the stage got here within the opening 50 kilometres, which included all three of the day’s categorised climbs. Mark Donovan attacked early on by himself, taking the factors on the opening two climbs of the Côte de Jenzat and Côte de Gannat earlier than being joined by Arkéa – B&B Lodges’ Mathis Le Berre. The duo held a bonus which yo-yoed between three and 4 minutes for the following 70 kilometres.
Donovan additionally took the factors on the ultimate climb of the day, the Côte de Chouvigny, to guarantee that he can be carrying the King of the Mountains jersey on the next stage.
The duo labored effectively collectively all through the day. Le Berre received the intermediate dash into Chantelle with 95km to go as they rolled by means of the countryside of central France.
Lidl-Trek and Decathlon-AG2R led the chase, hoping to arrange a dash for Mads Pedersen and Sam Bennett respectively. They managed the hole, bringing it underneath two minutes as they progressed into the ultimate 50 kilometres.
There was a crash for a number of riders with 21km to go. Q36.5’s Jimmy Whelan was the worst affected and can be compelled to desert the race.
The catch was imminent because the race performed out on uncovered slender roads by means of agricultural land, and was made with 16 kilometres to go. The GC groups mobbed the entrance on the difficult roads; Ineos Grenadiers, UAE Crew Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohe had been all significantly attentive.
Nils Politt (UAE Crew Emirates), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Harrison Sweeny (EF Schooling-EasyPost) made speculative efforts off the entrance within the closing levels, however nothing would deny the dash groups on what’s their greatest alternative of a stage win all week.
Because the dash drew nearer, Decathlon-AG2R and Uno X Mobility took management of the lead-out. Lidl-Trek had been biding their time earlier than hitting the entrance with 1.5km to undergo Toms Skujins. Alex Kirsch after which Ryan Gibbons put Pedersen within the good place enabling him to launch his kick with lower than 200 metres to go.
Bennett tried to come back round Pedersen within the closing 50 metres however was unable to take action, which means that the Dane would put on the Maillot Jaune going into stage two.
Outcomes
