Lotto-Soudal's Brent Van Moer made up for a wrong-turn that cost him the Ronde van Limburg win last week with another successful breakaway move to take stage one of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
The Belgian was part of the day's escape, mopping up king of the mountains points to secure that jersey, but found himself strong enough to hold of the peloton and deny a bunch sprint finish as he took the stage win instead.
Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Victorious) won the sprint behind for second, coming across the line 25 seconds later, with Clément Venturini (Ag2r Citroën), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Kaden Groves (BikeExchange) rounding out the top five.
How it happened
A 181.8km-long opening stage to the Dauphiné, with a few lumps and bumps on course in Issoire.
Soon, a four-man breakaway was up the road Deceuninck - Quick-Step’s American Ian Garrison, a big fan of the rapper 2 Chainz in case you were wondering, as well as Patrick Gamper (Bora-Hansgrohe), Brent Van Moer (Lotto-Soudal) and breakaway veteran Cyril Gautier (B&B Hotels). The latter trio’s stance on rap music is unknown.
Lotto-Soudal’s Brent Van Moer took the maximum KOM points up the first climb of the day, the gap holding at around five minutes as Bahrain-Victorious contributed on the front of the bunch.
A crash in the peloton brought down Ag2r Citroën’s Jaakko Hänninen, before Van Moer took more points on the second climb, his intention for the day made clear, as Garrison fell away leaving three up front.
Gamper took the points at the intermediate sprint, the gap then starting to come down as they went up the Côte du château de Buron for a second time, behind former world champion Mads Pedersen dropped from the bunch.
Van Moer once again took the maximum KOM points at the top, the gap now hovering just above three minutes.
Trek-Segafredo and UAE Team Emirates joined the efforts on the front of the bunch, the gap now two and a half minutes with 25km to go.
The chase then ratcheted up a notch as Ineos joined the pursuit with around 20km remaining, the break's advantage coming under two minutes, and at the bottom of the final climb Van Moer wasn't ready to give up just yet as he attacked his breakaway colleagues.
UAE Team Emirates' Brandon McNulty and Alexander Kristoff were soon dropped as Ineos' Dylan van Baarle upped the pace, Gamper and Gautier eventually caught with 12km remaining.
At the summit Van Moer had a little over a minute and 10km to the finish line, the gap only coming down 12 seconds over the next 2km, and holding that into the final 5km as he profited from the downhill.
Sure enough, victory was in the bag as he sailed under the flamme rouge and crossed the line first, making up for his mishap at the Ronde van Limburg, and with 25 seconds to spare before the peloton arrived.
Result - Critérium du Dauphiné 2021, stage one: Issoire to Issoire (181.8km)
1. Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, in 4-13-00
2. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious, at 25 seconds
3. Clément Venturini (Fra) Ag2r Citroën, at same time
4. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
5. Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange
6. Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step
9. Alex Aranburu (Esp) Astana-Premier Tech
10. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, all at same time
General classification after stage one
1. Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto-Soudal, in 4-12-49
2. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Victorious, at 30 seconds
3. Clément Venturini (Fra) Ag2r Citroën, at 32s
4. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo, at 33s
5. Kaden Groves (Aus) BikeExchange, at 36s
6. Nils Politt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, at same time
7. Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step
9. Alex Aranburu (Esp) Astana-Premier Tech
10. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, all at same time
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