Sonny Colbrelli showed his strength in the sprint as the fastest finisher from the bunch. However, Colbrelli was only beaten by the breakaway, with Van Moer (Lotto-Soudal) soloing to victory, 25 seconds ahead of the group.

The opening 181 kilometres stage of the Dauphiné started and finished in Issoire. An early breakaway of four riders went clear, gaining an advantage of over five minutes from the peloton. With 10 kilometres remaining, the breakaway was down to one rider with a gap of a minute. With it downhill all the way to the finish, despite the efforts of the group to bring back the break, Van Moer (Lotto-Soudal) held off for the win while Sonny Colbrelli was the fastest in the sprint, taking second.

Bahrain Victorious are left with one less rider as Eros Capecchi withdrew from the race after suffering from allergies.

Sonny Colbrelli is looking ahead to more opportunities:” It was a good opportunity today. Unfortunately, we were down one rider (Eros) to pull and close the gap to the breakaway. Tomorrow is another day and a good stage for me, along with stage three and five. So for sure, I will try to take a stage win. A big thank you to the team for their support today.”

(All pictures can be used for editorial and non-commercial usages only and are copyright @Bettiniphoto @TeamBahrainVictorious)