Lukas Postlberger wins Stage 2 and takes over the Race Lead

Lukas Postlberger of Bora-Hansgrohe solo'd to win a hilly second stage of the Criterium du Dauphine on Monday to claim the overall leader's yellow jersey

The Austrian was the sole survivor of a long-range breakaway but hung on by just 11 seconds for the win after a 172km hilly stage over five demanding hills from Brioude to Saugues in the massive Central region of France.

Overnight leader and surprise winner of Sunday's opening stage Brent Van Moer finished three minutes down on the peloton, which increased pace up the final climb chasing Postlberger.

"When I saw the start list for the race I thought i had a chance on one of the two first stages as there was not that many sprinters around," a delighted Postlberger said after the race.

"But I wasn't expecting this really. It was awful in the last kilometre, it was suffering all the way," said Postlberger, the first Austrian to ever have worn the Giro d'Italia pink jersey back in 2017 and now has a yellow one to go with it.

Sonny Colbrelli was again second and lies 12 seconds off the overall lead while Alejandro Valverde is in third at 20 seconds.

"I'll try again tomorrow," said a disappointed Colbrelli. "But it isn't easy winning a stage on the Dauphine."

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome was dropped in the final chase on an incline of just 6.4 per cent gradient as he continues to struggle to find racing form.

The eight-day stage race is a warm up for the Tour de France which starts from Brest in four weeks' time.

Ineos appear to have the strongest team in the Criterium to support Geraint Thomas but the field also contains Colombians Nairo Quintana, and Miguel Angel Lopez with Jumbo's Dutch climber Steven Kruijswijk also a threat.

"I thought about attacking near the end of the race but Ineos were well positioned," said French climber Guillaume Martin, eighth overall and expected to challenge at the weekend.

All of these finished around 11 seconds behind Postlberger on Monday.

The third of eight stages on Tuesday takes the peloton through the Puy hills avoiding any serious inclines before a 16.4km time-trial on Wednesday.

Two hilly stages then precede a weekend of challenging mountain ascents with Saturday's finish at over 2000m at the ski resort La Plagne the highlight.

VIDEO: 2021 Criterium du Dauphine Stage 2 Highlights

2021 Criterium du Dauphine Stage 2 Top 10

1 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:25:20
2 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:11
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
4 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
6 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team DSM
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team
9 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ

2021 Criterium du Dauphine GC after Stage 2

1 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 8:38:32
2 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:12
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:20
4 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:2
5 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tec
6 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo
8 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
9 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
10 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team DSM