Paul Magnier won the first stage of the Etoile de Bessèges, starting and finishing in Bellegarde, 159 km long.

The French stage race opened with a sprint victory for the Soudal Quick Step rider, who preceded Jordi Meeus of Red Bull Bora hansgrohe and Marijn Van den Berg of Ef Education EasyPost on the slightly uphill finish scheduled for today.

Also in the top 10 were Maxim Van Gils, fourth, and Arnaud De Lie, seventh.

Magnier is the first leader of the general classification.