Max Schachmann wins Itzulia Basque Counry time-trial as Almeida and Lipowitz gain time on the competition

Stage 1 of the Itzulia Basque Country was a flat time-trial where differences could be made in the overall classification and that was definitely the case. A few men lost substantial time whilst João Almeida and Florian Lipowitz made the best of it. Max Schachmann however was the big winner of the day, soaring his first triumph since returning to Soudal - Quick-Step.

Early in the day it was expected that Victor Campenaerts would take over the hot seat, however the Visma rider wasn't having the best legs on the day and he was quite behind a surprising Max Schachmann who ended up staying in the lead for most of the day. In the 16-kilometer long effort there were many riders that came close to his time, but none managed to beat it.

The GC fight turned very serious once Florian Lipowitz crossed the finish, only 1 second slower than the German, and then João Almeida managed to put in a time less than 1 second slower... Meanwhile the likes of Enric Mas and Sepp Kuss would lose over a minute and even Santiago Buitrago lost a lot of GC victory aspirations with a 46-second loss at the time. Brandon McNulty was the other big favourite of the day and the last rider to start his effort, but had a disappointing time and was nowhere near the first riders.