Britain’s Pete Kennaugh retained the overall lead at the Criterium du Dauphine as France's Nacer Bouhanni won stage two in Villars-les-Dombes in a sprint finish.
Cofidis rider Bouhanni won the battle of the sprinters at the end of the 173km stage from Le Bourget-du-Lac as Kennaugh (Team Sky) saw his lead cut from six to two seconds from Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida), who finished third on the stage.
The Irish trio of Nicolas Roche (103rd), Daniel Martin was (107th) and Philip Deignan (117th) clocked the same time as the stage winner.
Team Sky rider Roche leads the Irish contingent in the overall standings. The 30-year-old is 12 seconds behind Kennaugh in 54th place.
"It's been a dream come true today," Kennaugh told the race's official website.
"It's an incredible feeling to ride with the yellow jersey, the same as at the Tour de France.
"I had raced alongside Chris Froome but I had never seen myself in that situation. It's insane.
"I knew I could count on the sprinters' teams to do most of the work today so we wouldn't spend too much energy in the defence of the yellow jersey."
Kennaugh, who is using the race as preparation for the Tour de France, where he is set to support Froome, will hope to enhance his advantage in Tuesday's 24.5km team time-trial from Roanne to Montagny.
The Dauphine finishes on Sunday.
