Darren Rafferty makes front group at Dauphiné, Magnus Cort wins | Video

Magnus Cort takes his first victory in the colours of new team Uno-X Mobility at Critérium du Dauphiné, also taking the yellow jersey (Photo: Billy Ceusters-ASO)

Magnus Cort has taken his first victory in the colours of new team Uno-X Mobility at Critérium du Dauphiné on a day when Ireland's Darren Rafferty, the 20-year-old riding for EF Education-EasyPost, made the front group to the finish on Col de la Loge.

The sprinters - including yellow jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek) and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) - were dropped long before the finish today, though Pedersen put in a huge effort to make it all the way.

And by the end of the 142km stage from Gannat to Col de la Loge, with 2,500m of climbing, the peloton was down to just 52 riders when it closed down the last of the attackers, Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) just a couple of hundred metres from the line, with Rafferty still in that group.

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Though Bora-hansgrohe deployed Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov to close down Armirail - in a bid to set up Primož Roglič for stage victory - it was left to Uno-X Mobility to hit the front with just over 1km to go and take over.

Armirail hung on doggedly, in a racing action barely visible on TV due to the mist on the climb, but Uno-X Mobility had judged its effort to perfection. They recaptured the lone leader a few hundred metres from the line before launching Cort to stage victory.

The Dane took a clear win in the sprint from a frustrated Roglič, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) 3rd, Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) 4th and Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team) in 5th.

The stage win, and 10-second time bonus that came with it, was enough to move Cort into the yellow jersey and he now leads overall by four seconds from Roglič, with Jorgenson 3rd at six seconds.

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Today, stage 1 winner Pedersen was only dropped very close to the finish, before staging a big effort to get back into the group. However, he eventually finished in 71st at 4:18. The man he beat for stage victory yesterday, Ireland's Bennett, went out the back earlier today and finished in 136th at 14:38.

Compatriot Rafferty, riding just his second World Tour stage race, finished in the front group today, in 52nd and on the same time was winner Cort; a very solid performance from the 20-year-old earning his spurs at this level.

The race continues tomorrow with a 182km stage from Celles-sur-Durolle to Les Estables, finished on the cat 3 Côte des Estables.

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