PARIS (Reuters) - South Africa's Daryl Impey won the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine in a sprint finish after 179 kilometres between Valence and Saint Just-Saint Rambert on Monday.
France's Julian Alaphilippe and Italian Vincenzo Nibali tried their luck solo in the last hill shortly before the finish, but they were reined in and Mitchelton-Scott rier Impey was the strongest of a reduced bunch.
Alaphilippe took second place while Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.
The Criterium du Dauphine is the main warm-up race for the July 7-29 Tour de France.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
