Saint-Ismier (France) (AFP) - French climber Alex Baudin won the opening stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhone Alpes on Sunday after a solo breakaway inside the final 30 kilometres, despite suffering from food poisoning before the race.

On a mountainous 140km opening stage from Vizille to Saint-Ismier in a race previously known as the Criterium du Dauphine, the overall favourites kept their powder dry on the punishing first-category final climb.

But on the 20km descent to the finish line, Netcompany Ineos pair Oscar Onley and Kevin Vauquelin managed to escape in a 10-man group to gain 12 seconds on the other overall contenders.

With a punishing 234km stage to come on Monday before Tuesday’s crucial team time-trial, none of the favourites were willing to push too hard.

That allowed EF Education-Easy Post rider Baudin, 25, to stay away, claim the biggest victory of his career and take possession of the leader’s yellow jersey.

He did all that in his home region, in front of his family and friends.

“I’m so happy,” said a tearful Baudin, who admitted that he had targeted this stage despite being “afraid I wouldn’t be good enough”.

“I only really believed in the final 500 metres. I felt the tears building up. It’s crazy.

“Today I had great legs even though yesterday I really had no belief. I had food poisoning before coming here. I really wasn’t confident before the start.”

He was part of an initial nine-man breakaway which had shrunk to just three by the time he attacked on the 8.2km-long Cote de Rousset, which averaged a tough 7.6 percent.

- ‘The aim was not to win’ -

Pre-race favourite Paul Seixas, also racing in his home region, described the time lost to Onley and Vauquelin as “nothing”.

“Today the aim was not to win” and take the leader’s jersey so early in a tough eight-day race, said Seixas.

“It really wasn’t the aim to take the jersey and have to defend it before Tuesday’s time-trial,” he said, adding that it had been a “calm day”.

However, he suffered a blow early in the stage when American Decathlon CMA CGM team-mate Matthew Riccitello pulled out after falling ill in the night, meaning Seixas will have one team-mate fewer in Tuesday’s team time-trial.

“It’s a real shame but the most important thing is that he’s fit for the Tour de France,” said Seixas.

The racing was not pedestrian, with the peloton reduced to just 30 riders when it went over the final climb.

Seixas, Spaniard Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro of Mexico, put in some bursts in the rapid finish to show that they have good legs for the rest of the race, which will likely be decided in the final three stages in the high mountains.

One favourite who did not have the legs was Portugal’s Joao Almeida, who was second in last year’s Vuelta a Espana, but has suffered from illness and poor form this season.

He finished third-from-last on Sunday, more than 24 minutes behind the winner.