Image 1 of 17 John Degenkolb wins the opening stage of the Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel (Image credit: AFP) Image 2 of 17 Dutch national champion Johnny Hoogerland (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 3 of 17 Thomas Voeckler checks his bike over on the startline (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 4 of 17 IAM Cycling with Latvian champion Aleksejs Saramotins (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 5 of 17 Christophe Premont (Wallonie-Bruxelles) made a solo bid for victory late in the stage (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 6 of 17 BMC sets tempo during stage 1 at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 7 of 17 John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) opens his account for 2014 with a victory in the opening stage at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 8 of 17 John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 9 of 17 John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) celebrates his first victory of 2014 in stage 1 at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 10 of 17 Luís León Sánchez (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) heads to the start line for stage 1 at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 11 of 17 John Degenkolb triumphs in stage 1 of the Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel (Image credit: AFP) Image 12 of 17 John Degenkolb wins stage 1 of the Tour Méditerranéen Cycliste Professionnel (Image credit: AFP) Image 13 of 17 Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) prior to stage 1 at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 14 of 17 Pierre Rolland (Europcar) is ready to roll at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 15 of 17 All smiles for John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) as he wins stage 1 at Tour Méditerranéen (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 16 of 17 John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) on the podium after winning the Tour Méditerranéen's opening stage (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 17 of 17 John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) in the leader's jersey at Tour Méditerranéen after winning stage 1 (Image credit: Sirotti)

Giant-Shimano's sprinter John Degenkolb racked up his first victory of 2014 in the opening stage of the Tour Méditerranéen, besting Sicilian Danilo Napolitano (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF) in the 223.5km stage from Argeles-sur-Mer to Montagnac.

The victory is the team's sixth after Marcel Kittle's hat trick in the Dubai Tour and Tobias Ludvigsson's stage and overall win in Etoile de Bessèges, but Degenkolb finally turned his pair of deuces from Etoile de Bessèges into an ace.

It was a chilly but clear day for the first stage of the Tour Med, and with a long day ahead, and only two category three climbs in the first half of the stage, the script was written well in advance, and five players were happy to come to the fore early in the day.

Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia), Vegard Stake Laengen (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Pierre Gouault (BigMat-Auber 93) and Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) went out from the gun and quickly gained 20 seconds. Sensing the move was going, Julien Bérard (AG2R La Mondiale) spent a good 10km bridging to the group before he finally made the juncture.

The five worked steadily while the peloton simply clicked off the kilometers, with Giant-Shimano taking the responsibility for keeping the gap around eight minutes.

Grijalba won both of the mountain sprints, followed by Valencia and Laengen in both cases, but then the gap began to slowly shrink.

The stage was going according to the usual plan until they reached a long, straight open road with 85km to go, and a turn into the cross-tailwind caused a rapid acceleration, and broke the peloton into two halves. It also served to quickly reduce the gap to the leaders, and as they reached the finishing circuits the five men had less than four minutes on the bunch.

Giant-Shimano's wicked pace at the front continued to shatter the peloton, and by the time the breakaway was caught with 30km to go, there were five groups on the road, and about 35 men left in front.

Europcar and IAM Cycling were well represented in the front, and finally, as the final lap approached, Giant-Shimano took its foot off the accelerator and allowed the leading group to grow.

Christophe Prémont (Wallonie-Bruxelles) attacked solo into the bell lap, and gained a healthy lead as Degenkolb suffered a mechanical with 10km to go, and his team put on the brakes.

IAM Cycling took up the chase, and together with BMC and Europcar managed to pull back the Frenchman with only 1km to go.

Full Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 5:34:01 2 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 3 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 4 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 5 Benjamin Giraud (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 6 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 7 Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 8 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 9 Baptiste Plackaert (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole 10 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 11 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling 12 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) AG2R La Mondiale 13 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Shimano 14 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 15 Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team 16 Yannick Martinez (Fra) Team Europcar 17 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha 18 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha 19 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing 20 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 21 Alo Jakin (Est) BigMat - Auber 93 22 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 23 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 24 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 25 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 26 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 27 Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col) Colombia 28 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 29 Domingos André Maciel Gonçalves (Por) La Pomme Marseille 30 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr 31 Michel Kreder (Ned) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 32 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr 33 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Team Giant-Shimano 34 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 35 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 36 Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Polsat Polkowice 37 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Team Katusha 38 Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 39 Carlos Julian Quintero (Col) Colombia 40 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling 41 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Colombia 42 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 43 Peio Bilbao (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 44 Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 45 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole 46 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Trek Factory Racing 47 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) IAM Cycling 48 Georg Preidler (Aut) Team Giant-Shimano 49 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team 50 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 51 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 52 Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 53 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 54 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani CSF 55 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 56 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 57 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 58 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 59 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 60 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 61 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha 62 Gustav Larsson (Swe) IAM Cycling 63 Julien Stassen (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 64 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Col) AG2R La Mondiale 65 Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Team Raleigh 66 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) Colombia 67 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 68 Flavien Dassonville (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 69 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 70 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr 71 Tom Dernies (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 72 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 73 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek Factory Racing 74 Christophe Premont (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 75 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 76 Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 77 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 78 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 79 Tomasz Kiendys (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 80 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ.fr 81 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr 82 Angelo Pagani (Ita) Bardiani CSF 83 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 84 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 85 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 86 Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 87 Rudy Kowalski (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 88 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 89 Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 90 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:32 91 Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:44 92 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 93 Matthew Busche (USA) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:59 94 Omar Fraile Matarranza (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 95 Théo Vimpere (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 0:01:07 96 Thomas Vaubourzeix (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 97 Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 98 Grzegorz Stepniak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 0:01:18 99 Gert Joeaar (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:32 100 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:47 101 Frédéric Brun (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 102 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 103 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 104 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 105 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek Factory Racing 106 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 107 Piotr Gawronski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 108 Francis De Greef (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 109 Yohan Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 110 Jonathan Dufrasne (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 111 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 112 Laurent Evrard (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 113 Jérôme Baugnies (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert 114 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Androni Giocattoli 115 Dimitri Le Boulch (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 0:02:00 116 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 0:02:03 117 Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 118 Grégoire Tarride (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 119 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:41 120 Maxime Anciaux (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 121 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Raleigh 0:04:09 122 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) La Pomme Marseille 123 Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 124 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement 125 Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole 126 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling 127 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 128 Andrea Zordan (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 129 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:06:45 130 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 131 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling 132 Pierre Gouault (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 133 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Team Raleigh 134 Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul) CCC Polsat Polkowice 135 Juan Pablo Valencia (Col) Colombia 136 Karol Domagalski (Pol) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 137 Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Team Katusha 138 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 139 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Colombia 140 Ian Wilkinson (GBr) Team Raleigh 141 Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Col) Colombia 142 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 143 Yanto Barker (GBr) Team Raleigh 144 Quentin Bertholet (Bel) Wallonie - Bruxelles 0:07:45 145 Yoann Paillot (Fra) La Pomme Marseille 146 Alexander Rybakov (Rus) Team Katusha 147 Alexander Porsev (Rus) Team Katusha 148 Steven Tronet (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 149 Fernando Grijalba (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA 150 George Atkins (GBr) Team Raleigh 151 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 152 Donato De Ieso (Ita) Bardiani CSF 153 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar 154 Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice 0:08:20 155 Joseph Perret (GBr) Team Raleigh 0:14:33 156 Anton Vorobyev (Rus) Team Katusha 0:15:59 157 Morgan Kneisky (Fra) Team Raleigh 158 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 159 Darwin Ferney Pantoja Tobar (Col) Colombia 160 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Giant-Shimano 161 Thomas Peterson (USA) Team Giant-Shimano 162 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 163 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:17:41 DNF Diego Rosa (Ita) Androni Giocattoli