Van Aert gives Jumbo-Visma victory in opening stage Critérium du Dauphiné | NOW

Wout van Aert won the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday. The 27-year-old rider of Jumbo-Visma triumphed in the bunch sprint.

Van Aert finished in Beauchastel with Ethan Hayter (second, INEOS Grenadiers) and Sean Quinn (third, EF Education-EasyPost). The Belgian is of course also the first leader in the general classification.

The first stage of the 74th edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné was dominated by a long flight by the French Maxime Bouet (Team Arkéa-Samsic) and Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels – KTM) and the Belgian Laurens Huys (Intermarché-Wanty- Gobert Materiaux).

The trio separated from the peloton after a few kilometers and quickly ran out to a lead of more than two minutes. The escapees were not given a free pass: the sprinters’ teams ensured that the margin remained within limits.

The final was initiated at more than 40 kilometers from the finish with the climb of the Côte du Chambon de Bavas. Due to the high pace in the peloton, the lead of the leading group melted like snow in the sun, after which the merger was a fact at more than 30 kilometers from the finish. At that moment Dylan Groenewegen should have already released from the peloton.

The Dutch Team BikeExchange sprinter made good ground in the closing stages with the help of his teammates, but the catch-up race came too late to join the sprint. Van Aert was well dropped off by his teammates and then finished in the bunch sprint.

Dauphiné is general for Tour

The 27-year-old Van Aert will defend his leader’s jersey in the second stage on Monday. It will lead the riders over 169.8 tough kilometers from Saint-Péray to Brives-Charensac.

“In the spring I was not always happy with my sprints, we have been working on that in recent weeks,” said Van Aert after the first stage. “That pays off here. I will try to defend the yellow leader’s jersey in the coming days. And then I hope to hand over the jersey to Primoz Roglic,” said the Belgian about his Slovenian teammate, the Jumbo-Visma leader in the race. Dauphine.

The Critérium du Dauphiné was won last year by Richie Porte, who is not on the start list this year. For many riders, the race is traditionally the dress rehearsal for the Tour de France.

The last rider to win both the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de France in the same season was Geraint Thomas in 2018. Thomas will not participate in the Dauphiné this year, but will ride the Tour of Switzerland.