Christophe Laporte has won the first stage of the Criterium du Dauphine as Australian star Jai Hindley overcame the challenges of repeated thunderstorms and wet roads to come home safely with the leading pack.
In his first taste of the prestigious race in which he's trying to lay down a marker for his debut Tour de France, 2022 Giro d'Italia champ Hindley was content to lose no time to his fellow general classification contenders, including Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.
But Jumbo-Visma's great Dane Vingegaard helped make it a special Sunday for his French teammate Laporte, providing a lead-out for him as he went on to edge out Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) in a thrilling sprint finish.
Rune Herregodts (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty), ultimately the lone escapee from an original five-man breakaway which had forced the peloton to work hard on slippy roads to catch them, was agonisingly hauled in over the final metres but was rewarded with third.
BORA-hansgrohe's Hindley ended up among 43 riders who rolled in with the pack and didn't lose any time in the GC battle.
Hindley was 36th in a group that also featured four of his Australian colleagues - Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 9th, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) 26th, Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen) 40th, and Chris Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) 42nd.
Vingegaard also came home safely in 24th, reporting: "My form's improving and I've prepared well for this race. I like to have a stage race in my legs before the Tour and this will show if I'm on the right track in my defence."
He was the toast of his teammate Laporte, who said: "The team kept Jonas and me in the lead. I got the chance today, and I have to thank my teammates for that and Jonas's lead-out was fantastic."
The opening stage of the eight-day race, which has traditionally served as a barometer of Tour de France contenders' form, unfolded on a hilly, testing 158km circuit in Chambon-sur-Lac in southern France with the weather making it a tricky afternoon.
There was briefly a moment when the Belgian rider Herregodts must have thought he had held on for a famous win over the final uphill kilometre only for Vingegaard's pull to haul Laporte into the perfect position for a grand finale.
