The first stage of the Tour of the Basque Country was won by Orica-GreenEDGE rider Michael Matthews. Omar Fraile starred in the break of the day. The Basque Caja Rural rider escaped at the start of the stage with two other riders, then went solo and was caught by the peloton 17 kilometers from the finish. Fraile is leading both the sprints and mountains competitions and so stepped onto the podium twice. His teammate Pello Bilbao did a good performance by finishing 12th.

The downside was the bad crash for captain Sergio Pardilla in the finishing straight. He has been diagnosed with a head injury, hemoptysis and fracture of the left wrist.

"After 2km, an early break was formed and I had a good feeling," Fraile said. "That allowed me to take the mountains and sprint jerseys. It is a pity that the peloton didn't give us an advantage that gave us a chance. It is always nice to ride at home and I wanted to do something. The truth is that I enjoyed it, it was nice."

Sports director Josemi Fernández took stock at the end of the stage.

"As final result the balance is positive, the team was in the break with Omar who now leads two secondary classifications. In addition, Pello managed to finish in the top 12, close to the top 10. We will continue to fight for a stage win. Unfortunately everything is marred by the Sergio Pardilla's crash."

For the second stage he expects "a similar outcome, with Orica controlling everything to set up a sprint finish."