PARIS — French climber Alex Baudin won the opening stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone Alpes after a solo breakaway inside the final 30 kilometres, despite suffering from food poisoning before the race.
On a mountainous 140km opening stage from Vizille to Saint-Ismier of the race previously known as the Criterium du Dauphine, the overall favourites kept their powder dry on the punishing first category final climb.
But on the 20km descent to the finish line, Netcompany Ineos pair Oscar Onley and Kevin Vauquelin managed to escape in a 10-man group to gain 12 seconds on the other overall contenders.
With a punishing 234km stage to come before Tuesday’s crucial team time-trial, none of the favourites was willing to push too hard, AFP reported.
That allowed EF Education-Easy Post rider Baudin, 25, to stay away and claim the biggest victory of his career and take possession of the leader’s yellow jersey.
And that in his home region, in front of his family and friends.
“I’m so happy,” said a tearful Baudin, who admitted that he had targeted this stage despite being “afraid I wouldn’t be good enough”.
“I only really believed in the final 500 metres. I felt the tears building up, it’s crazy.
“Today I had great legs even though yesterday I really had no belief. I had food poisoning before coming here, I really wasn’t confident before the start.”
He was part of an initial nine-man breakaway which had shrunk to just three by the time he attacked on the 8.2km-long Cote de Rousset, which averaged a tough 7.6 per cent.
Pre-race favourite Paul Seixas, also racing in his home region, had told French television in the morning that he did not want to take the leader’s jersey so early in a tough eight-day race.
He described it as a “calm day” after the race.
However, he received a blow early in the stage when American Decathlon CMA CGM teammate Matthew Riccitello pulled out early on due to falling ill in the night, meaning Seixas will have one teammate fewer in Tuesday’s team time-trial.
“It’s a real shame but the most important thing is that he’s fit for the Tour de France,” said Seixas.
The race had not been pedestrian by any means, with the peloton reduced to just 30 riders when it went over the final climb.
And Seixas, alongside Spaniard Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro of Mexico, put in some bursts in the rapid finish to show that they have good legs for the rest of the race, which will likely be decided in the final three stages in the high mountains.
One favourite who did not have the legs was Portugal’s Joao Almeida, who was second in last year’s Vuelta a Espana, but has suffered from illness and poor form this season.
