The man who doesn't need altitude training: Pedersen shows everyone his heels in Dauphiné opening stage

Just over a week ago, we were wrapping up the Giro d'Italia, but the following Sunday, the focus shifted to the Critérium du Dauphiné. With contenders like Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primoz Roglic (BORA-hansgrohe) at the start, this race also promised to be very interesting ahead of the Tour de France.

In the first stage, it was likely up to the sprinters, who had indicated before the start that they were up for a battle. For this reason, there wasn't much enthusiasm for the early breakaway: Mark Donovan (Q36.5) and Mathis Le Berre (Cofidis) were given a free pass, so the scenario for the first few hours was immediately known.

Back in the peloton, the expected teams took control: Lidl-Trek (Mads Pedersen) and Decathlon AG2R (Sam Bennett) both had a sprinter for whom this first stage could be a great opportunity. And that meant it was those teams we saw at the front, in the not-so-glorious conditions in France.

We were also briefly alarmed by a small crash involving Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek) and Kobe Goossens (Intermarché-Wanty), while Alex Edmondson of dsm-firmenich PostNL was the first to leave the race as we entered the local circuit in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule for the first time.

Heading into the final phase, things started going wrong, with mechanical troubles for Bennett and dsm-firmenich PostNL sprinter Emils Liepins. There was also another crash, which Steven Kruijswijk of Visma | Lease a Bike narrowly escaped. James Whelan (Q36.5) had to withdraw from the race as a result.

Heading into the last ten kilometers, the major classification teams positioned themselves at the front to keep their leaders out of trouble. There was another intention too, as Nils Politt (UAE) suddenly attacked twelve kilometers from the end. Marco Haller, his former teammate at BORA-hansgrohe, followed, but not long after, the attempt was neutralized.

After this, the peloton blasted off at speeds nearing a hundred kilometers per hour as they descended to the finish, with Uno-X, Lidl-Trek and Decathon AG2R organizing their lead-out trains. Alex Kirsch led the way for Pedersen at high speed heading into the final kilometer, but Ryan Gibbons ended up leading relatively early.

Pedersen launched his sprint just after the final corner. Sam Bennett was on his wheel, but simply couldn't get past. Pedersen, who unlike his team did not attend a high-altitude training camp, was simply dominating.