The HTC-Highroad rider, who was second in last year's Under-23
world championships road race, outsprinted Frenchman Samuel Dumoulin of the
Cofidis team on the final meters of a 1.4-km hill in central Lyon at an average
gradient of 4.8 percent.
Degenkolb said he was happy to put German cycling in the
spotlight for good reasons after years of doping affairs involving former Tour
de France champion Jan Ullrich, and also Patrik Sinkewitz and Matthias Kessler,
with state television pulling out of the Tour amid a drugs scandal in 2007.
"The most important thing is to note that there are
clean riders in Germany," the 22-year-old Degenkolb told reporters.
"There is a new generation, with the 27-year-old Paul
Martens and Tony Martin, too." On Tuesday, Martens finished fourth while
Martin, 26, claimed the prestigious Paris-Nice stage race earlier this month.
"They're also from the new generation and we can make
the future bright," Degenkolb said.
Frenchman Sebastien Hinault took third place for AG2R-La
Mondiale on Tuesday as several top riders had to dig deep to stay in front
after being caught off guard earlier in the stage.
Degenkolb, however, stayed alert in the final short climb when
French champion Thomas Voeckler launched an early attack.
He kept on the wheels of the Cofidis riders, who were
looking to set up Dumoulin, before powering past the French rider and claim his
most prestigious victory.
Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov retained his overall leader's
yellow jersey and said he would defend it throughout the week even though the
Dauphine is often used as a warm-up race for the Tour de France.
"I don't know how to take it easy on the bike," he
told reporters.
Frenchman Brice Feillu, Dutchman Marteen Tjallingii and
Belgium's Juergen van de Walle broke away after some 50 kilometers, opening a
four-minute gap but the peloton brutally upped the pace.
With the wind blowing sideways, several team leaders,
including Australian Cadel Evans and Briton Bradley Wiggins, were trapped
behind as the bunch was split in three.
Vinokourov's Astana team worked hard in the first group as
they sought to knock former world champion Evans out of overall contention.
Team Sky produced a huge effort to bring Wiggins and
Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen back into the first bunch with eight kilometers
left.
Wednesday's third stage is a 42.5-km time trial, the same
one that the Tour riders will tackle in July.
