Critérium du Dauphiné Live - Evenepoel and Roglic return to racing on opening hilly stage

We’ve had our first abandonment of the race — Alex Edmondson of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL.

70KM TO GO

Their work is ensuring the gap remains stable. With 70 kilometres to go, it's ay 3-17.

It’s the teams you’d expect to be setting the pace at the front of the peloton, with the fastest sprinters on paper — Decathlon AG2R for Sam Bennett, and Lidl-Trek for Mads Pedersen. 

Here's Donovan and Le Berre out in front, shrouded in mist - this isn't the kind of weather you'd associate with France in June. 

Kobe Goossens and Toms Skujiņš both came down in a crash a few kilometres ago, but both are up again and seem OK. 

80KM TO GO

3-15 now for the two leaders out front.

The peloton has eased off now after the intermediate sprint. The lead is back out to 3 minutes

The riders are now heading into a rolling section of the race before starting two local laps where they will cross the finish line twice before the end of the stage.

92km to go

The gap is coming down, the leaders now have a 2:35 lead

Here are the results from the intermediate sprint in Chantelle:

1. Le Berre 10 points and 3 seconds
2. Donovan 6 points and 2 seconds
3. Casper Pedersen 4 points and 1 second

Here's what Sam Bennett had to say before the start:

“The condition is building up quite nicely and the sprinting has come along quite good. Hopefully we can set up nicely today. But it’ s going to be a hard sprint. We first have to make it a sprint but then it’s slightly downhill, very straightforward on paper but harder when we get there. 

"We’ll see how we get on, we hope it will be good. I think today’s parcours should be OK. The next one may be harder, but we’ll just take it day by day. Hopefully we’ll get to use Dorian Godon’s amazing power in the run-in. It’s slightly downhill so it’ll be difficult to control the front but his power can be put to great use.”

Lidl-Trek and Decathlon-AG2R are leading the bunch in support of Mads Pedersen and Sam Bennett respectively. The gap is now 3:45.

The leaders are about 1km away from the intermediate sprint

95km to go

The riders are on the flat now and are on the approach to the day's one and only intermediate sprint at Chantelle. That's in about 10k's time. 

The CyclingNews tech team are on the ground at the Dauphiné and have been out spotting all the new tech being tested out ahead of the Tour de France. 

New Pinarello Dogma used by Ineos Grenadiers at the Criterium du Dauphiné

New Trek at the Dauphine…is it an Emonda? Is it a Madone?

New Canyon Aeroad doubles down on aero gains at the Criterium du Dauphiné

The breakaway have reached the bottom of the descent. Their lead is steady at 4:20.

So who are the favourites for the stage today? 

It's a undulating finish, perfectly suited to Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen. 

The big worry for Lidl-Trek with be the presence of an in-form Sam Bennett (Decathlon-AG2R). The question is whether the Irishman can make it to the finish with fresh legs.

Other riders hoping to challenge today include the likes of Magnus Cort (Uno X Mobility), Ivan García Cortina (Movistar) and Milan Menten (Lotto DSTNY)

The riders are now on the long descent of the Côte de Chouvigny. The duo lead by 4:20.

Visma-Lease a Bike are at the Dauphiné without their two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. It's down to Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgensen to lead their General Classificatio hopes this week.

'Nobody will be able to hide' - Kuss, Jorgenson look to later stages in Visma-Lease a Bike's two-pronged Critérium du Dauphiné GC approach

As you might expect, with Mads Pedersen in their line up, Lidl-Trek have taken conrol of things at the front of the peloton so far

120km to go

Donovan and Le Berre are over the top of the Chouvigny now, with Donovan taking maximum points again.

Remco Evenepoel is back. He gave a very open virtual press conference yesterday, speaking about his recovery, goals for this week and talked about whether Tadej Pogačar can really achieve the Giro-Tour double.

Remco Evenepoel: If there's one rider who can do the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double, it's Tadej Pogačar

The leading duo are now on the lower slopes of the final climb of the day, the Côte de Chouvigny. Their lead has dropped to below four minutes.

Here's a close look at Lidl-Trek's brand new bike. Is it a Madone is it an Emonda? We're not quite sure, but CyclingNews got a first look at it before the race started yesterday.

Spotted: New Trek at the Dauphine…is it an Emonda? Is it a Madone?

Le Berre has now caught Donovan and the pair have a lead of 4:45 over the bunch.

Roglic and Evenepoel are two big favourites for the race this week, although the Belgian has played down his chances. 

Others here to tune-up their Tour de France form include Juan Aysuo (UAE Team Emirates), Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers)

Here is CyclingNews' breakdown of the big contenders at the 2024 Critérium du Dauphiné

The buzz at the start today in Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule was all about the return to racing of Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel.

Both returned to training several weeks ago, but today will be their first indicators of how their form is heading into the Tour de France in 4 weeks' time.

140km to go

Donovan has crested the Gannat first, so he will be in the King of the Mountains jersey at the end of the stage. 

Le Berre is now just 20 seconds away from the Englishman

Most of the climbing in today's stage comes in the opening 50 kilometres, which includes all three of the day's classified climbs.

After the Côte de Gannat will be the Côte de Chouvigny.

Donovan has already taken the points on the first climb of the day, the 4th category Côte de Jenzat and is now at the foot of the 3rd category Côte de Gannat. If he leads over the top of that one, he will be in the King of the Mountains jersey this evening.

We're 22 kilometres into the opening stage already, so here's a quick summary of the situation as it stands.

Mark Donovan (Q36.5) made an early move away from the bunch and is currently 4:25 in the lead on his own. He's being pursued by Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) who is 1:10 behind.

Hello! Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 1 of the Critérium du Dauphiné.