CHRIS Froome and Simon Yates finished safely in the bunch as Thomas De Gendt won the opening stage of the Criterium du Dauphine from the break.

Lotto-Soudal’s De Gendt soloed home after dropping the last of his breakaway companions with eight kilometres left of the lumpy 170.5km stage, which started and finished in Saint Etienne.

The Belgian, something of a breakaway specialist, finished just under a minute clear of the main pack, which featured all of the general classification hopefuls, in a race seen as a key test of form ahead of the Tour de France.

With bonus time applied, De Gendt leads by 48 seconds from AG2R La Mondiale’s Axel Domont, with the main pack 69 seconds down.

Yorkshireman Ben Swift (UAE) had been hoping to feature in a select sprint, but had to settle for ninth place on the stage. Froome finished 15th, while Yates was further back in 44th place on the day.

Team Sky’s Froome, pictured, who won here ahead of his three Tour victories in 2013, 2015, and 2016, is bidding for a record fourth victory in the Criterium. He faces a tough field which includes his former team-mate Richie Porte (BMC), and from the likes of Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

Ahead of the stage, Team Sky lined up on the front of the peloton for a minute’s silence in memory of those killed in the terror attack in London on Saturday night.

Froome said: “It’s close to home for a lot people. It’s something happening far too regularly these days.”