In the opening stage of the Criterium du Dauphine, a day built for the sprinters, Tadej Pogačar did the only thing he knows how to do - win.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was part of a star-studded breakaway with only 6km to go and out-sprinted Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to start his campaign off strongly and take the first yellow jersey.
In a day full of out-of-character performances, this sprint finish surprised even the chronic victor who knows this is only the start of the long 8-stage race.
He said: “Obviously, it's good, but the real test is coming at the end of the weekend.
“I was not [expecting it]. I was all prepared to come back to the bus pretty fast after the finish, to take a shower in the bus, take a comfortable seat and enjoy the rest of the day. But I don't mind being here as well,” he added.
The Slovenian’s victory came from the break guided by Vingegaard, who, after reaching the top of the Côte de Buffon, which had slowed down the pace of the peloton, uncharacteristically attacked with Van der Poel and Pogačar following suit. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) managed to bridge the gap to ensure they didn’t miss out on this star-studded breakaway.
Pogačar said: "I followed the moves on the steep part of the climb, and then Visma were clearly going for the stage win. They were trying, with everybody, to attack from the top. And that one was painful.
“And fortunately, I had good legs and I covered all the attacks. And then, even Jonas for the last one, for the cherry on the top, he attacked.
"Around 2km to go, I was starting to think more about the sprint than just the GC, and I knew that Van der Poel was the fastest, obviously, in this group. But after a finish like this, you cannot count all of the rest out, they can be fast as well after a tough day.”
As soon as the 5-rider group hit the flamme rouge Van der Poel struck, charging down the straight in a bid to outsprint Pogačar and Vingegaard who stuck to his back wheel.
It was a test of nerve for the riders, and for Van der Poel, who has just returned from a wrist injury, also a test of fitness, as Pogačar snuck round the side of the former world champion to clinch the first stage victory.
He said: "It's a stage win. I can go home from Dauphiné happy already, but yeah, I still want to see how the shape will be in the TT and on the mountain stages. I cannot say that after today, the shape is incredible."
Vingegaard said: "I had a good day, to be honest. I'm happy with how it went today. Happy that I could make a difference. So yeah, I guess it's the first time I finished second in a bunch sprint. So I'm happy.”
It was the bunch sprint filled with big names that showed just how competitive this year’s Criterium du Dauphine will be as they head into stage 2.
Stage 2 will see the riders head south from the suburb of Prémilhat across the hilly terrain with six different categorised climbs, culminating after 204.6km in Issoire.
