Belgian Wout van Aert won the opening stage of the 74th edition of the Tour of the Dauphiné and slipped into the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
Wout van Aert celebrates his victory at the Dauphiné opener.
IMAGO / Sirotti
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Alongside the Tour de Suisse, which begins on June 12th, the Dauphiné Tour is the classic preparatory race for the Tour de France, which begins on July 1st. Since some climbs of the Dauphiné are also usually in the tour calendar, mountaineers in particular prefer to start in France.
The starting field is also particularly impressive this year: Among others, the three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) and last year’s Tour runner-up Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/both Jumbo-Visma) are at the start. Tour title defender Tadej Pogacar, on the other hand, starts in his Slovenian homeland.
The 1st stage over 192 kilometers from La Voulte-sur-Rhône to Beauchastel was demanding, but very high caliber was missing. An increase in category 2 and two in category 3 plus constant ups and downs provided a lot of variety in the field. In the end, however, a mass sprint decided the day’s victory. In these, the Belgian champion van Aert prevailed in 4:37, 31 hours in front of the Briton Ethan Hayter and the American Sean Quinn. The best German driver was Jannik Steimle (Weilheim an der Teck/Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) in a strong tenth place, Nils Politt (Cologne/Bora-hansgrohe) came in 19th.
Stage 2 on Monday is 169.8km from Saint-Peray to Brives-Charensac and features a long Category 2 climb.
1. Etappe La Voulte-sur-Rhone – Beauchastel (191.80 km):
1. Wout van aert (Belgium) – Jumbo-Visma 4:37:31 hrs; 2. Ethan Hayter (Britain) – Ineos Grenadiers +0sec; 3. Sean Quinn (USA) – EF Education EasyPost; 4. Hugo Page (France) – Wanty-Gobert; 5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) – Team TotalEnergies; 6. Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) – Trek – Segafredo; 7. Clément Venturini (France) – AG2R Citroën Team; 8. Maxim Van Gils (Belgium) – Lotto-Soudal; 9. Benjamin Thomas (France) – Cofidis; 10. Jannik Steimle (Weilheim) – Deceuninck Quick Step; … 19. Nils Politt (Huerth) – Bora-hansgrohe; 49. Marco Brenner (Ansbach) – Team DSM; 80. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – Cofidis; 122. Phil Bauhaus (Cologne) – Bahrain Victorious + 2:36 min.; 133. Miguel Heidemann (Trier) – B&B Hotels p/b KTM + 4:36; 151. Leon Heinschke (Cottbus) – Team DSM + 10:00; Niklas Märkl (Queidersbach) – Team DSM retired
Overall standings after the 1st stage:
1. Wout van Aert (Belgium) – Jumbo-Visma 4:37:21 hrs; 2. Ethan Hayter (Britain) – Ineos Grenadiers +4s; 3. Sean Quinn (USA) – EF Education- EasyPost + 6; 4. Maxime Bouet (France) – Team Arkea-Samsic +7; 5. Laurens Huys (Belgium) – Wanty-Gobert +8; 6. Pierre Rolland (France) – B&B Hotels p/b KTM + 9; 7. Hugo Page (France) – Wanty-Gobert +10; 8. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) – Team TotalEnergies; 9. Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) – Trek – Segafredo; 10. Clément Venturini (France) – AG2R Citroën Team; … 13. Jannik Steimle (Weilheim) – Deceuninck Quick Step; 22. Nils Politt (Huerth) – Bora-hansgrohe; 52. Marco Brenner (Ansbach) – Team DSM; 81. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – Cofidis; 122. Phil Bauhaus (Cologne) – Bahrain Victorious + 2:46 min.; 133. Miguel Heidemann (Trier) – B&B Hotels p/b KTM + 4:46; 151. Leon Heinschke (Cottbus) – Team DSM + 10:10
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