"In the end I found myself alone at the front" - Paul Ourselin's solo adventure rewarded with a KoM leader jersey

Paul Ourselin had a lonely day at the front of the second stage of Criterium du Dauphiné as no other rider was willing to join his breakaway adventure until the half-way mark of the stage when a group of three jumped over to the lone leader of the race. As most mountain sprints were placed in the first half of today's stage, the Cofidis rider's bravery was rewarded with a polka dot jersey.

"At the start of the stage, I was in a slightly more attacking state of mind, but in the end I found myself alone at the front," the Frenchman tells race organizer after the stage. At least he had no competition for the lead of King of the Mountains classification.

"That allowed me to pick up the points for the first four climbs, so it was the right strategy. It's true that being alone made it feel a bit long but after all it was nice, the weather was good. And then after that I was in the company of three other riders, which was quite nice. Even though I quickly realised that I couldn't go much further and that I wouldn't be taking the points on the cat-2 climb."

The next three stages won't bring an overwhelming amount of points to the table which gives Ourselin a good chance of keeping the prized jersey until the first mountain stage on Friday. "Now I can say that I'm getting the hang of it and I've thrown some strength into the battle. So I think I can try to keep the jersey until the stage after Mâcon."