Racing in the Vuelta a Burgos 2020 kicked off with a bang as Bora-Hangrohe's Felix Großschartner took victory with a late attack ahead of João Almeida and Alejandro Valverde, who led in the favourites in the bunch sprint.
The first major race since lockdown started in Spain as the star-studded peloton faced a slightly undulating route to negotiate before finishing on the Alto del Castillo in the city of Burgos.
Echelons were the word on everyone's lips going into the day and the wind did not disappoint.
How it happened
As the peloton set out on a 157km day in the saddle, a four man break of Gotzon Martin (Fundacion Ciclista Euskadi), Jetse Bol (Burgos - BH), Diego Sevilla (Kometa Xstra Cycling Team) and Kiko Galván (Equipo Kern Pharma) escaped up the road early, with Martin taking the first mountain points of the race along with the jersey.
It was Deceuninck - Quick-Step along with Trek-Segafredo and Movistar that put in the initial burst to eventually split the pack in the wind. with around 45km left to race.
On a gentle rise, Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and teammate João Almeida attacked the group with Evenepoel eventually going solo with 35km to go.
The European time trial champion had a gap of 35 seconds at its peak, before the peloton pulled him back.
Willie Smit (Burgos-BH) then went on the counter with 22km to go and, with a tricky approach to the finish, he pulled out to 15 seconds before inevitably tiring and being caught on the descent into Burgos.
All the big name favourites had made the lead group as they crossed the line for the first time before doing a 14km loop back around. Team Ineos controlled for their leaders, defending champion, Ivan Sosa and Giro d'Italia champion, Richard Carapaz, who won a similar stage at the Giro d'Italia last year.
But, it was to be Bora-Hansgrohe's day as they continued their high after getting four stage wins and a one-two at the Sibiu Tour just a few days ago.
This is off the back of the overall win at Paris-Nice, just before lockdown, won by German champion, Max Schachmann.
The last few kilometres were rapid as they descended into Burgos with CCC Team and Mitchelton-Scott taking control of the pace working for the likes of Matteo Trentin and Simon Yates.
The pace continued to be high as they hit the base of the Alto del Castillo which was lead into by Bora-Hansgrohe, with around 600 metres to go Großschartner attacked, the main favourites decided not to follow straight away and began to look at each other.
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The Austrian climber showed excellent pace and kept his advantage, taking the win by eight seconds over Almeida, Valverde (Movistar) and Alex Aranburu (Astana), with the rest of the favourites lead home by Mikel Landa (Bahrain - McLaren) at ten seconds.
Vuelta a Burgos 2020, stage one: Catedral de Burgos - Alto del Castillo (157km)
1. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora - Hansgrohe, in 3-40-21
2. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 8s
3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar
4. Alexander Aranburu (Esp) Astana, all at same time
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-McLaren, at 10s
6. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Caja Rural
8. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
10. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, all at same time
General classification after stage one
1. Felix Großshartner (Aut) Bora - Hansgrohe, in 3-40-21
2. João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 8s
3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar
4. Alexander Aranburu (Esp) Astana, all at same time
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Bahrain-McLaren, at 10s
6. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama - FDJ
7. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Caja Rural
8. Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hangrohe
9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
10. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, all at same time
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