Stephane Auge of Cofidis claimed the leader's pink jersey, and victory in the first stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk after stunning the top sprinters in the race here Tuesday.

Auge and fellow Frenchman Clement Lhotellerie broke away from the main peloton, including sprint heavyweights such as German Erik Zabel and Norwegian Thor Hushovd, at the 72km mark and never looked back.

After building a lead which hit a maximum of 8:30, Auge and Lhotellerie's collaboration worked well and by the time the peloton reacted their efforts came far too late.

By the time the gap the chasers had brought the gap to just over two and a half minutes, Auge had broken ahead of Lhotellerie to claim the win.

At 2:36 adrift, Germany's Sebastian Siedler won the bunch sprint for third place ahead of Australian Mark Renshaw, with Belgian Tour de France stage winner Gert Stegmans in fifth.

Wednesday's 192.2km stage is held between Henin-Beaumont and Cateau-Cambresis.