The opening stage of the eight-day French stage race had its start and finish in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule. A duo formed the breakaway for a long time, but the sprinters' teams always kept the leaders within reach. At 15 kilometres from the finish line, the two were eventually caught. Team Visma | Lease a Bike did not get involved in the battle for the day's victory. In the bunch sprint, Pedersen proved to be the fastest.

Co-leader Matteo Jorgenson is already looking forward to the tougher stages in the coming days. “I am satisfied that we all crossed the line safely”, the 24-year-old American said afterwards. “There was very hard riding in the finale, but fortunately it remained safe. It wasn't an overly tough opening stage of this race, but there is still a lot to come in the coming week.”

Sports director Frans Maassen saw how his riders executed the plan well. “This was a stage as we expected. It was up to the sprinters' teams to take control in the peloton, so we didn't have to take the initiative. Our aim was to keep our leaders Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss well in front and we succeeded with verve. There are still a lot of important stages to come in this Dauphiné. The final weekend is very tough. There we definitely want to play our part in the general classification.”