Team Ineos’ Tour de France champion Egan Bernal was pipped by Jumbo-Visma’s Wout Van Aert to the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine as Chris Froome struggled on Wednesday. Belgian Van Aert, who won the Milan-Sanremo on Sunday, beat South African Daryl Impey in second and Bernal in third in a sprint finish to the north of
Saint-Etienne.

This season’s Dauphine has been shortened and moved due to the coronavirus pandemic with Chris Froome, who finished in 86th place 5:23 behind Van Aert, returning to a race which almost finished the four-time Tour de France winner’s career last year when he had a serious accident.

“Apparently I have good legs. I came to the hotel really tired yesterday and the team still did a perfect job for me today,” Van Aert told France Televisions.

Thursday’s 135-kilometer second stage heads from the town of Vienne up to the Col de Porte and includes three steep climbs. The race is a key warmup for this season’s Tour de France which has been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It will start on August 29.

STAGE ONE RESULTS

1. Wout Van Aert (BEL/JUM) 5:27: 42

2. Daryl Impey (RSA/MIT) same time

3. Egan Bernal (COL/INE) s.t

4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) s.t

5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE) s.t

6. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ/ASY) s.t

7. Sergio Higuita (COL/EF1) s.t

8. Benoit Cosnefroy (FRA/ALM) s.t

9. Primoz Roglic (SLO/JUM) s.t

10. Guillaume Martin (FRA/COF) s.t

Selected others
18. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) s.t

19. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) s.t

22. Tom Dumoulin (NED/JUM) s.t

23. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/JUM) s.t

26. Geraint Thomas (GBR/INE) s.t

86. Chris Froome (GBR/INE) 5 mins 33 sec