Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) sprinted to victory on stage two of the Criterium du Dauphine, surging past Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) to claim a commanding win.

The Frenchman, whose WorldTour stage chances are more restricted since joining the second-tier French team from FDJ, showed he still has the ability to mix it with the best with a well-timed sprint.

Boasson Hagen had looked to be in the best position as the sprint approached, but after kicking from way out he could not hold his pace to the line – Bouhanni proving too good at the denouement.

Stage one winner Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) finished safely in the peloton, meanwhile, to retain his overall lead – Modolo failing to secure enough bonus seconds to overhaul him.

Three men went clear early on, including Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) in the King of the Mountains jersey.

Arnaud Courteille (FDJ) and Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar) joined the Eritrean, and the trio had built up an advantage of nearly seven minutes before the peloton started to reel them back in again.

The chase was going smoothly – so much so they nearly caught the three riders very early before slowing down to leave them out front and avoid the risk of more late attacks like the one which saw Kennaugh claim victory on stage one.

With little more than 20km remaining, however, a touch of wheels saw Yaroslav Popovych (Trek Factory Racing) hit the deck in the middle of the peloton, with big splits forming as a result.

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was one of the riders caught out behind the crash, with the pace of the peloton relentless as they tried to catch the leaders at the front.

A spirited chase, however, saw it come back together and the gap to the three riders out front tumbled again as the 10km-to-go mark approached.

Teklehaimanot, Quemeneur and Courteille continued to work well together, with a tailwind aiding their cause, but Lampre-Merida, Cofidis and Lotto-Soudal all led the charge as they kept the trio locked in sight on the wide, straight roads.

Once the tailwind turned to a crosswind, their day up front was at an end and attention turned to the bunch sprint.

MTN-Qhubeka, Cofidis and Lampre-Merida held the key positions on the front, with Boasson Hagen opening up his sprint from very far out.

When Bouhanni kicked he was simply too good for the Norwegian and in-form Modolo, however, winning by a big margin.

Criterium du Dauphine 2015: stage two – result

1) Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) – Cofidis – 4.23.46hrs
2) Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale – ST
3) Sacha Modolo (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
4) Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) – MTN-Qhubeka
5) Alexey Tsatevich (RUS) – Katusha
6) Jonas Van Genechten (BEL) – IAM Cycling
7) Jens Keukeleire (BEL) – Orica-GreenEDGE
8) Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU) – Cannondale-Garmin
9) Yannick Martinez (FRA) – Team Europcar
10) Luka Mezgec (SVN) – Giant-Alpecin

General classification

1) Peter Kennaugh (GBR) – Team Sky – 7.30.27hrs
2) Sacha Modolo (ITA) – Lampre-Merida +2”
3) Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) – Cofidis – ST
4) Samuel Dumoulin (FRA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +6”
5) Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) – MTN-Qhubeka +8”
6) Tiejs Benoot (BEL) – Lotto-Soudal _12”
7) Yannick Martinez (FRA) – Team Europcar – ST
8) Jay McCarthy (AUS) – Tinkoff-Saxo
9) Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU) – Cannondale-Garmin
10) Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) – Etixx-QuickStep