Tour of the Basque Country 2016 – Stage 1 [LAST 4 KM]

April 04, 2016

Vuelta al País Vasco 2016 – [Stage 1] – Etxebarria – Markina-Xemein – 144 km

Edition 56 of the Tour of the Basque Country leaves Monday, April 4, to finish on Saturday, April 9. The race is a feast for climbers and puncheurs, as the Basque Country is teeming with steep hills and mountains. The 2016 edition will start in Etxebarria, while the last stage is an individual time trial in the mountains of Eibar.

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) won the opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco after a two-up sprint against Cofidis’ Daniel Navarro. Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEdge) led the peloton home in third, at the same time.

Navarro and Sanchez slipped clear of the peloton in the closing stages with Navarro the first to attack on the final climb of the stage between Etxebarria and Markina-Xemein. On the descent, Sanchez’s reminded everyone of his skills, cutting through the corners perfectly as he provided Navarro with some much-needed ammunition as the peloton mustered a late charge.

The pair held a slender lead as they approached the flat run-in to the line and despite leading out the sprint Sanchez had enough in the tank to hold off Navarro for the win and the leader’s jersey.

Alberto Condador (Tinkoff) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) both watched each other throughout the undulating stage, with Contador making several accelerations on the final climb. The pair eventually finished safely in the main field.

The earlier part of the stage was marked by a three-man break consisting of Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling), Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis).

The trio built up a moderate lead over the peloton but they were kept on the leash through a combination of Tinkoff and Orica-GreenEdge efforts.

With just under 35 kilometres to go Wyss was detached from the lead group and as the remaining duo hit the penultimate climb of Izua – with its 8.7 per cent pitches – the gap to the peloton dropped to less than 30 seconds.

The peloton, however, took their foot off the gas for the briefest of moments as they tackled the lower slopes and Astana’s Dario Cataldo took full advantage – first bridging up to the leaders before dragging a fading Edet with him.

The Cofidis rider held on for as long as he could but the Italian was in no mood to shelter passengers, as he pushed clear with 30km to go.

Behind him several small counter-attacking moves filtered back and forth off the front of the peloton with Philip Deignan (Team Sky) and Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL Jumbo) each part of separate moves.

Just before the summit of the final climb Contador made his first acceleration. For the majority of the ascent he had followed Quintana but the former Tour winner looked intent on testing his Movistar rival.

The Colombian was more than capable of following Contador’s first, second and third acceleration, as the rest of the pre-race GC contenders drew themselves back into the fray.

The increase in pace saw the end of Cataldo’s effort but just before the summit Navarro made his move. Once a teammate of Contador, the Spaniard impressively established a gap on the rest of the peloton. The descent was a nervous affair, with Navarro taking risks wherever he could but Sanchez made contact as the rest of the peloton regrouped.

Results :

1 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:54:21
2 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
3 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
4 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
5 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale Pro Cycling
6 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx – Quick-Step
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin
9 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
10 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Team Katusha
11 Rui Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
12 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
13 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Team Katusha
14 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale Pro Cycling
15 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
16 Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team
18 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge
19 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
20 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
21 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge
22 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team
23 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
24 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team
25 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
26 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
27 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
28 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
29 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale Pro Cycling
30 Lawson Craddock (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
31 Sergio Henao (Col) Team Sky
32 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team
33 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
34 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx – Quick-Step
35 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ
36 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
37 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
38 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team
39 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre – Merida
40 Simon Spilak (Slo) Team Katusha
41 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data
42 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre – Merida
43 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team
44 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
45 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Team Sky
46 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team
47 Carlos Verona (Spa) Etixx – Quick-Step
48 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling
49 Egor Silin (Rus) Team Katusha
50 Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC Racing Team
51 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
52 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:18
53 Andre Cardoso (Por) Cannondale Pro Cycling
54 Simone Petilli (Ita) Lampre – Merida
55 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
56 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
57 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
58 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge
59 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Lampre – Merida
60 Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre – Merida 0:01:13
61 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:05
62 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
63 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
64 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Team Katusha
65 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
66 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
67 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team
68 Fredrik Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin
69 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
70 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
71 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
72 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data
73 Luis Angel Mate (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
74 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
75 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) IAM Cycling
76 George Bennett (NZl) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
77 Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
78 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
79 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Etixx – Quick-Step 0:03:05
80 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Trek-Segafredo
81 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ
82 Jonathan Fumeaux (Swi) IAM Cycling
83 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
84 José Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
85 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:07
86 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
87 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:06:48
88 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge
89 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
90 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff Team
91 Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ
92 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
93 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
94 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
95 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
96 Carter Jones (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin
97 Michael Valgren (Den) Tinkoff Team
98 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Orica-GreenEdge
99 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Tinkoff Team
100 Clement Chevrier (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:07:13
101 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
102 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ
103 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
104 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
105 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
106 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
107 Domingos Gonçalves (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
108 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
109 David Tanner (Aus) IAM Cycling
110 Mekseb Debesay (Eri) Dimension Data 0:08:24
111 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
112 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data
113 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre – Merida
114 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
115 Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Team Katusha
116 Peter Velits (Svk) BMC Racing Team
117 Sindre Skjoestad Lunke (Nor) Team Giant-Alpecin
118 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
119 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
120 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
121 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
122 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
123 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
124 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha
125 Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
126 Laurent Didier (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
127 Stefan Denifl (Aut) IAM Cycling
128 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
129 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:09:02
130 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ
131 Martin Velits (Svk) Etixx – Quick-Step
132 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo
133 Miguel Angel Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
134 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
135 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
136 Alex Howes (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling
137 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
138 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 0:12:52
139 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
140 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
141 Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
142 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
143 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ
144 Mario Costa (Por) Lampre – Merida
145 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Orica-GreenEdge
146 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Team Sky
147 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:22
148 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
149 Artym Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
150 Pirmin Lang (Swi) IAM Cycling
151 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky
152 Marcel Aregger (Swi) IAM Cycling
153 Caleb Fairly (USA) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:19:20
154 Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step
155 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling
156 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Tinkoff Team
157 Jesper Hansen (Den) Tinkoff Team
158 Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff Team

General Classification after Stage 1 :