Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the opening time trial of the 2019 Tour of the Basque Country to take the leaders jersey and open up a nine second lead on second place Daniel Martínez (EF Education First).
Other GC contenders followed, with Michał Kwiatkowksi (Team Sky) finishing third, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) in fourth and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) rounding out the top-five, 16 seconds off the race lead.
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) snuck in to the top-10, finishing in 9th place on stage one, with a time of 17-40 and fellow Brit Hugh McCarthy (EF Education First) only one second slower in 10th place.
There are only 31 seconds between the top-10 on GC, with tomorrow's stage offering a puncher's finish and two big days in the mountains to round out the six day race.
How it happened
The 11.2km time trial starting and finishing in Zumarraga, 75km from Bilbao, gave GC hopefuls the first chance to eek out some seconds ahead of a week of Basque climbing.
A short, sharp ramp at Antio, 3km from the finish and 500m in length, posed the most challenging aspect of the course, aside from the inclement weather.
Some riders, Geraint Thomas for example, opted to switch from time trial bikes to road bikes at the bottom of the ramp, whilst Adam Yates and Ion Izagirre (Astana), amongst others, stuck to their time trial bike throughout.
Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) took the early lead before Enric Mas (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) held top spot for an hour, with a time of 17-29 before Bora-Hansgrohe's Patrick Konrad went five seconds better.
Maximilian Schachmann then came through taking 19 seconds off his team-mate's time, completing the course in 17-10.
Daniel Martínez (EF Education First) was nine seconds down on Schachmann's time, with Kwiatkowski one second later in third and Milan-San Remo winner Alaphilippe a further four seconds down, with a time of 17-22.
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) was the best of the Brits, rounding out the top five with a time of 17-26.
Results
Tour of the Basque Country 2019, stage one: Zumarraga to Zumarraga (11.2km ITT)
1. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 17-10
2. Daniel Martínez (Col) EF Education First, at 9 seconds
3. Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 10 secs
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 12 secs
5. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 16 secs
6. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 19 secs
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Astana, at 22 secs
8. Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 24 secs
9. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, at 30 secs
10. Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First, at 31 secs
General classification after stage one
1. Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 17-10
2. Daniel Martínez (Col) EF Education First, at 9 seconds
3. Michał Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky, at 10 secs
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 12 secs
5. Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott, at 16 secs
6. Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 19 secs
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Astana, at 22 secs
8. Enric Mas (Esp) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, at 24 secs
9. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky, at 30 secs
10. Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First, at 31 secs
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