This year’s edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné got underway with a 172.5km-long flat stage around Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, with Mads Pedersen emerging victorious in the final sprint. The Danish rider was given a textbook leadout by his Lidl-Trek teammates, who delivered him perfectly into the final bend with around 200m to go and nobody was able to come around him once he opened his sprint.
Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was the closest to Pedersen, as the Irishman finished in second place, but was unable to come out of the slipstream to launch his sprint, as he was forced to sit back down in the saddle before the finish line.
After a lengthy break from racing following a successful Spring Classics campaign, in which he won Gent-Wevelgem and finished third at Paris-Roubaix, Pedersen was back to winning ways with his eighth victory of the season, seven of which have come on French roads.
Speaking in his post-race interview, Pedersen stated that “I think I’ve said it many times this year that I like to race in France. From the small races to the big races, it’s always well-organised and nice racing, so of course it’s nice to keep winning”.
When asked how this win will help him ahead of the Tour de France, which starts later this month, the Dane replied “of course every win gives more and more confidence. I’m also racing my bike to win races, so it’s nice”.
On whether he can contest anymore stages at this Critérium du Dauphiné, Pedersen said “maybe during the week, but I don’t think tomorrow, I think it’s too hard in the finale. Now being in the lead of the race, I don’t think anyone will let me in the break as well. I think tomorrow, we control to respect the jersey and we also have one GC guy here, who we have to take care of and that’s my job from now until stage five”.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Few riders seemed interested in getting themselves in the breakaway at the start of the day, as British rider Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) went solo up the road around 5km into the stage. He took maximum points on the first two categorised climbs of the day before being joined by Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), who had launched a counter-attack from the peloton.
The leading pair worked well together to maintain their gap over the main group, as Donovan took the maximum points on the Côte de Chouvigny to secure his lead in the mountains classification, whilst Le Berre was first across the line at the intermediate sprint in Chantelle.
The sprinters’ teams of Lidl-Trek and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale both sent riders to the front of the peloton to control the gap for Mads Pedersen and Sam Bennett respectively, with Soudal Quick-Step, Ineos Grenadiers and Bora-Hansgrohe also staying well-positioned in the bunch to keep their leaders out of trouble.
As the two men at the front entered Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule to begin two laps of a finishing circuit their advantage sat at around three minutes, but that gap was quickly coming down and by the time they took the bell with 29km to go, it had come down to just over a minute.
There was a small crash in the peloton with around 21km to go, which saw Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike), Kenny Elissonde (Cofidis) and Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck) involved, as well as James Whelan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), who stayed down after the crash and was forced to abandon the race due to the injuries that he sustained.
The breakaway was then caught with 16km to go and the peloton briefly paused to catch their breath ahead of the finale. The peace was then broken by an attack by Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) with around 12km to go, which saw several riders try to go with him, but that was quickly brought back by those in the peloton.
The riders then left the narrow country lanes and went onto a wide main road, which saw them reach speeds of around 100km/h on a downhill section. As they carried their speed into the final few kilometres, the sprinters’ teams came to the fore and it was Lidl-Trek with Toms Skujiņš, Alex Kirsch and Ryan Gibbons on the front as they went under the flamme rouge.
Gibbons then hit the front with around 600m to go to begin his final leadout, delivering Pedersen perfectly into the final bend with around 200m to go to launch his sprint. Bennett attempted to challenge the Dane, but did not have the legs in the end, making it a comfortable victory for Pedersen.
RESULTS: CRITÉRIUM DU DAUPHINÉ 2024, STAGE 1, SAINT-POURÇAIN-SUR-SIOULE > SAINT-POURÇAIN-SUR-SIOULE (172.5KM)
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 4:01:30
2. Sam Bennett (Ire) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
3. Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty
4. Clément Venturini (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels
5. Owain Doull (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost
6. Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
7. Iván García Cortina (Spa) Movistar
8. Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
9. Clément Russo (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10. Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Uno-X Mobility, all at same time
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 1
1. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, in 4:01:20
2. Sam Bennett (Ire) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +4s
3. Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty, +6s
4. Mathis Le Berre (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +7s
5. Mark Donovan (GBr) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +8s
6. Casper Pedersen (Den) Soudal Quick-Step, +9s
7. Clément Venturini (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +10s
8. Owain Doull (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost
9. Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
10. Iván García Cortina (Spa) Movistar, all at same time
