Ethan Hayter sprinted to a punchy victory on the first stage of the Itzulia Basque Country as the likes of Jonas Vingegaard and David Gaudu finished safely in the bunch.
The first stage of the Itzulia Basque Country, the sole opportunity for any sprinters in the race to get their win was always going to be a tough one for the breakaway to try and stay away despite 2500 metres of climbing early on. In total three riders managed to get into the early break, Cristián Rodríguez (Team Arkéa Samsic), Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) and Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel - Euskadi).
As the advantage of the lead group steadily declined with every kilometre thanks to an INEOS Grenadiers-led peloton with Egan Bernal of all people riding at the front, the lead group was brought back with around 32kms to go.
At the second intermediate sprint, with bonus seconds on offer, the general classification riders came out to play for the first time. Daniel Martínez (INEOS Grenadiers) took the sprint win and 3 bonus seconds, Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) was second and took 2 bonus seconds whilst Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) took third a single bonus second.
With all the GC riders safely through the 3km to-go marker, the battle for the front between the sprint trains began to take hold. Although on paper a sprint finish, the run into the line was by no means flat and on one the kick ups, Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) tried his luck but was swiftly brought back.
In a frantic finish, Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) was the first to make his move and it turned out to be decisive as he held off the competition to claim victory ahead of Jon Aberasturi (Trek-Segafredo) in third and Mauro Schmid (Soudal Quick-Step) in second.
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