Pogacar wins opening stage of Criterium du Dauphine
Pogacar has won the Tour de France three times [Getty Images]
Tadej Pogacar won a sprint for the line against his main rivals as he claimed the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine.
The Slovenian finished the hilly 196km run from Domerat to Montlucon in four hours 40 minutes and two seconds.
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UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Pogacar, who won last year's Tour de France, accelerated past Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel with only 25 metres to go on the way to victory.
Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma-Lease a Bike was second, with Van der Poel in third place, Belgium's Remco Evenepoel in fourth and Great Britain's Jake Stewart in fifth.
"I switched my focus around 2k to go to prepare for sprint and it worked," said Pogacar.
"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."
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Pogacar earned 10 bonus second for his win, while Vingegaard received six seconds and Van der Poel four.
The Criterium du Dauphine will be contested over eight stages, which include a time trial, as the riders prepare for the start of the Tour de France on 5 July.
Stage two on Monday will be a 204.6km run from Premilhat to Issoire.
Stage one results
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4hrs 40mins 12secs
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) same time
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned/Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick-Step)
5. Jake Stewart (GB/Israel-Premier Tech)
6. Hugo Page (Fra/Intermarche - Wanty)
7. Bastien Tronchon (Fra/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
8. Clement Venturini (Fra/Arkea-B&B Hotels)
9. Benjamin Thomas (Fra/Cofidis)
10. Paul Penhoet (Fra/Groupama-FDJ)
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