Ireland's Martin, Roche come through sharp Dauphiné opener
Thomas De Gendt leads Axel Domont on their way to 1st and 2nd on what was a trying Critérium du Dauphiné opening stage.
As the peloton was whittled right down by a testing finishing circuit, Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche looked comfortable at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
The main bunch numbered just 50 riders on today's opener, when the breakaway made it all the way.
All the main favourites, including Martin, Roche's BMC Racing team mate Richie Porte and defending champion Chris Froome (Team Sky), were in the bunch.
They would lose 59 seconds to stage winner Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal).
The Belgian took an impressive solo win after going clear in the early breakaway and then pressing on from it.
Advertisement
He had Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) for company when they distanced the other five in the escape.
With them in that breakaway were Angel Madrazo (Delko Marseille), Antonio Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Silvio Herklotz (Bora-Hansgrohe), Delio Fernandez and Romain Sicard (Direct Energie).
The seven initially got a gap of over six minutes. But De Gendt and Domont took flight with around 30km, two laps of the lumpy finishing circuit, remaining.
Related News
And towards the end of the 170.5km stage, starting and finishing in Saint-Etienne, De Gendt pulled clear on the final climb.
Domont would hang on for 2nd place some 45 seconds later. In the 14-second gap between the runner-up and the peloton there were three riders.
Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) took a three-man sprint for 3rd from Pierre Roger Latour (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe).
The peloton was just two further seconds back.
Dan Martin was attentive in the final, clearly anxious not to get caught on the wrong side of any time splits.
He was 15th in the bunch sprint, for 20th place on the day. Roche, who worked hard for Porte in the final, was 10 places back in 30th.
The race was really strung out by the finish; the next big group on the road after the peloton losing two minutes. The last large group on the road was 16 minutes down.
Tomorrow’s stage 2 takes the riders 171km from Saint-Chamond to Arlanc.
It features a cat 3 climb just after the start and then a cat 2, cat 3 and cat 4 clustered together over just 30km later in the stage.
But with 70km still to race after the final cat 4 ascent is crested, it looks like a stage for the sprinters.
Sun, June 4th, Stage 1: Saint-Etienne (170.5km)
1 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 4:17:04
2 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:44
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:57
4 Pierre Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:59
7 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
9 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
10 Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Astana Pro Team
11 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott
12 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
13 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
14 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
15 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
21 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
30 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team
Topics
