La Pomme Marseille's Yannick Martinez won the opening stage of the Route Du Sud in Mirande.
A 209km stage from Castres to Mirande saw Thomas Rostollan of La Pomme Marseille, Romain Hardy (Cofidis) and Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli) take an eight minute lead
Rostallan picked up the sprints and Hardy will wear the King Of The Mountains jersey tomorrow in this annual four stage race in France.
After being caught inside the final twenty kilometres by Movistar, who included British Time Trial Champion and Giro D'Italia stage winner Alex Dowsett and AG2R, the sprint for the finish line was on.
In a time of 5.19.44, Yannick Martinez was first across the line ahead of fellow Frenchmen Anthony Roux and Adrien Petit with Danilo Napolitano fourth and Team Sky's Chris Sutton fifth.
Alex Dowsett finished 18th.
With time bonuses for the win, Martinez now leads Roux by four seconds going into the second stage.