Marc Sarreau (FDJ) kicked off his season with a victory in the opening stage of Étoile de Bessèges, out-sprinting Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) and Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept).
Vital Concept was very active through the day in trying to set up a sprint finish for Bryan Coquard, but the Frenchman suffered a mechanical problem on the finishing circuit.
AG2R La Mondiale tried to organize things in their favour, but it was instead FDJ to take the victory through Sarreau.
Étoile de Bessèges 2018 – stage 1 results (Bellegarde – Beaucaire):
| 1 | Marc Sarreau (FDJ) | 3:46:10 |
| 2 | Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 3 | Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) | ,, |
| 4 | Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 5 | Sean De Bie (Veranda’s Willems Crelan) | ,, |
| 6 | Amaury Capiot (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) | ,, |
| 7 | Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF) | ,, |
| 8 | Jordi Warlop (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) | ,, |
| 9 | Kenny Dehaes (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic) | ,, |
| 10 | Romain Feillu (St Michel-Auber 93) | ,, |
