Luka Mezgec sprinted to 10th on stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Nacer Bouhanni took the win, as Peter Kennaugh’s leading position was not threatened today.

The second stage of the French stage race went from Le Bourget-du-Lac to Parc des Oiseaux Villars-les-Dombes and included the first mountain of this Dauphiné, the Col de Cuvéry, around halfway the race.

Three riders escaped early in the stage, including KOM leader Daniel Eklehaimanot (MTN – Qhubeka), who aimed at taking the points on the first category climb. Towards the finale, the sprinters teams Cofidis Solutions Crédits and Lampre-Merida started the chase and caught back the leaders with three kilometer to go.

In the sprint, Mezgec was unable to hold on to a good position and took 10th. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis Solutions Crédits) won the bunch sprint. Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) retains his leading position in the general classification.

After the stage Mezgec reflected on his sprint: “The plan was to do a good lead-out in the last 3km. At 500m I was alone and could not find the good wheel before the sprint started and got boxed in during the sprint. We tried the sprint train tactic but unfortunately it didn’t work out well today.”

Coach Dirk Reuling added: “Our plan was to stay at the left side of the bunch, since the wind also came from that side and there would be space to move up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t space because the bunch used the complete width of the road.

“Then we decided to go through the other side, but the guys lost each other. Albert [Timmer] and Simon [Geschke] did everything they could to bring Luka in good position but it wasn’t enough.”