Watson leads home team on Dauphine opener

A lively finale to stage one of the Criterium du Dauphine saw the INEOS Grenadiers in the mix as the day ended in a bunch kick.

Sam Watson sprinted to 16th into Montlucon on a day which saw an expected sprint, but unexpected winners.

Axel Laurance launched an attack on the day's final climb, the Cote de Buffon, with seven kilometres to go, kick-starting a chain of events.

Following the summit a number of GC contenders launched clear, narrowly holding on to the finish, with Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) edging out the sprint. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) rounded out the podium places.

Watson had been well positioned in the chasing group behind and opted to hit out early in the sprint.

With all the riders ultimately handed the same time as the winners, Carlos Rodriguez and Magnus Sheffield also finished safely in the peloton without time-loss heading into a week of hard racing.