Tadej Pogacar won a sprint for the line against his main rivals by claiming the first stage of the Duphine Duphine criterion.
Sloveny ended the 196 km from Domerat to Montlucon in four hours 40 minutes and two seconds.
The Pogacar Emirates-XRG driver, who won last year’s tour of France, accelerated former Holyhland Mathieu Van der Poel with just 25 meters to go to the victory.
The Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma-Lease from Denmark was the second, with Van Der Poel in third place and Remco Hetepoel of Belgium in fourth.
The Criterium du Dauphine will be contested in eight stages, which include a counter -meal, while pilots are preparing for the start of the France Tour on July 5.
