Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) again proved that he is at back at his former level when he claimed his second victory of the year in trademark fashion on the first stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The Spaniard attacked on the final descent and caught lone leader Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) whom he beat in a two-rider sprint. A frustrated Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) won the sprint for third in the same time as the stage winner.

 

We have gathered several reactions.

 

Luis Leon Sanchez: I am the leader but we are here to win the race with Aru

“It was a great emotion to cross the finish line in first position at this beautiful race,”” said Luis Leon Sanchez after winning the first stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

 

“I knew this final downhill and I thought there could be the space to do an action,” explained the European Champion of the Astana Pro Team. Then when the bunch reached my team mate Dario Cataldo, who did a great attack as well, I stayed in the front positions waiting for the perfect moment to attack.

 

“In the final it wasn’t easy at all and when I was with Navarro, I saw the bunch getting closer to us so I pushed so hard on the pedals once at 1 km to go, then I pushed stronger to do the final sprint and this was enough to give me this great victory, continued the Spaniard.

 

With today's victory Sanchez conquered the leader’s jersey: “I know that now I’m the leader in the GC but the captain of the Astana Pro Team in this race is Fabio Aru and I’ll be more than happy to help him to do good.

 

"We had planned that I could try up in the last climb, but for us the important thing is to win the Tour of the Basque Country with Aru. The important thing was to get him in the lead group. That all riders have their opportunity is also nice. Today I have had mine.

 

"We have here with the idea to contest the victory with Fabio Aru because he is good and it is a race that suits him well. With my victory and the lead, there is less pressure on him.

 

“Cataldo did a great job. We felt that victory was going to be decided on the descent because it was very fast and technical and we were right. I jumped at the right time when Dani was ahead. He is a companion and friend and in the end I battled for the victory with him. I want to congratulate him because he has done a great job. "

 

"The team worked very well and we had clear plans. We had to start and stay the focused to win the stage. Ultimately it was an outcome in my favor, but I also want to congratulate Daniel Navarro. We have been teammates and friends.

 

“It was a nervous day, hard, with rain, but ultimately a great day because we got a great win for the team.”

For Luis Leon Sanchez, who is European Champion, it is the second victory in 2016, after he won a mountain stage at Volta ao Algarve.

 

Sports director Giuseppe Martinelli emphasized "the great work of everyone and the joy of being the first leaders. Now we're going to enjoy the win, we'll see tomorrow if you can defend the lead.”

 

Simon Gerrans in great shape despite near-miss in the Basque Country

Simon Gerrans outsprinted the bunch to take third place for ORICA-GreenEDGE on stage one of the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco today.

 

Good work from Simon Yates and Adam Yates on the final climb of the day brought the head of the race together, before a late attack involving Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) made it to the finish with Sanchez taking the win.

 

Sport director Neil Stephens was pleased with how the team performed on the opening stage.

 

”Obviously it’s slightly disappointing that we didn’t get the win,” said Stephens. ”The team did some great work throughout the stage, especially in the final third to keep Simon (Gerrans) up there for the finale.

 

”Simon is coming into some form now and looks to be in great shape which bodes well for the rest of the race and the Ardennes classics.”

 

”Adam and Simon (Yates) set an incredible pace on the last climb,” continued Stephens. ”It’s really good to see the team working so well together on the first day.

 

”All the overall contenders are still together so we have everything still to race for and the team is feeling confident about the rest of the week.”

 

Fabio Felline: To get from being dropped to finish fourth proves that I am on the right track

Eight climbs in 144 kilometers, the final one topping out eight kilometers from home, made for a difficult opening stage in the Vuelta al País Vasco Monday. 

 

Proving he is back from a virus that plagued him for three weeks, Fabio Felline sprinted to fourth place on the stage, arriving with the chasing peloton on the heels of two breakaway men who contested the win. 

 

"It was a hard day and very nervous," explained Felline as he cooled down on the CycleOps trainer immediately after the race ended. "In the finale, Sanchez and Navarro were impossible to catch, so the sprint for me was for the third place. I was fourth – okay, not a big result but what is important for me is that after three bad weeks this is good for my head and a good start to Pais Vasco. 

 

"A big thanks to Bauke (Mollema) because in the finale he positioned me in the front. Okay, it was not for the first place, but it is important to be there together. The climbs were not steep today, but they were one after another, all day, and for me it was hard in the first part of the race after 15 days without racing.  In the first climb, I was dropped! Then to finish 4th at the end shows that I am getting stronger with more kilometers, and this is promising for the next days."

 

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) won the two-up sprint ahead of the fast-charging peloton and shouldered the first leader's jersey of the five-day race.

 

The token breakaway group escaped in the early part of the race but easily absorbed on the penultimate climb of the day under the constant attacks that kept pressure on to the finish.  

 

The descents were equally fast-paced as the high-pitched battle for the stage win coupled with nervous GC contenders not wanting to lose ground in the first stage. It all made for a tough opening day over grueling parcours.

 

"Eight climbs in 144k," pointed out Mollema about the punishing terrain. "Especially the last 70kms, which were only up and down. And, everyone is fresh, it's a short stage, and so the finale was really hard with a lot of attacks. 

 

"The last descents were really full gas. We were lucky it was dry because the forecast called for much worse than this. Fabio is fast in sprints like these, so I tried to help him in the last two kilometers. I had done the recon of this stage a few days ago, so I knew that you more or less had to be already in front at one kilometer to go because it was going down a little bit in the last kilometer. I put him in a good position there, but with the two guys still in the front we just couldn't close it."

 

Bauke Mollema finished with the top GC contenders ahead of the first test in tomorrow's stage two with a steep uphill finish. 

 

Simon Clarke sprints to fifth on average day in Pais Vasco

Simon Clarke did the sprint for Cannondale and finished fifth.

 

“Managed to get amongst it today in Pais Vasco for 5th, despite having an avg. day. Thanks to the @Ride_Argyle boys 4 their support! #itzulia,” he tweeted after the stage.

 

Warren Barguil back in the top 10 at the WorldTour level

On the penultimate climb, several attacks took place, with Warren Barguil jumping away from the peloton just before the technical descent and he was part of a strong group of riders at the start of the final ascent.

 

Finallu, he was well positioned at the front peloton and he sprinted to an impressive 8th place in the streets of Markina-Xemein (ESP).

 

Giant-Alpecin coach Aike Visbeek said: “The difficult part was for sure the last two climbs and it was important to start the descent in the first positions at the head of the peloton. In both cases, it worked out very well and I am satisfied with the teamwork from the riders and it’s great that Warren started the week with such a positive result. I think today’s result will give him a lot of confidence and to the rest of the team of course. There are some tough stages to come, but the spirit and the intentions of the team are very good.”

 

Barguil gave his thoughts after the race: “I had good support today on the last climb and the guys managed to bring me to the front of the bunch. At the top of the last climb, I was just behind the first eight riders and I can be happy with my fitness level at the moment.”

 

Strong Katusha team with five riders in front group in Pais Vasco

Monday brought the opening day in the 56th Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco with Team KATUSHA in the game to repeat last year’s overall victory and the day’s results look promising. With a group numbering near 50 coming to the line together in an unsuccessful effort to catch a duo of riders, there were five team riders in the group with the best placing as tenth from Sergei Chernetckii.

 

”It was a difficult stage because the parcour was hard with 8 climbs. In the last 70 km there were 6 climbs - it was always up and down. It’s the first day so there wasn’t a team controlling the peloton and this opened up things to many attacks. We tried to send riders in these groups with Chernetckii and also Van den Broeck in the final. They tried to attack and be in the front. At the end the group that came in together was around 40 - 50 riders and we had five in this group, including all of our leaders. It was a very good day for us,” assessed team director José Azevedo.

 

The 144 km stage from Etxebarria to Markina-Xemein featured 8 climbs to get right down to serious work in the six-day race. A break of three went clear but were later attacked and passed by Dario Cataldo (Astana) on the penultimate climb. As he was brought back near the top of the final climb, Cofidis rider Daniel Navarro went clear and was joined on the descent by Luis León Sánchez (Astana). While the large group that included Joaquim Rodriquez, Jurgen Van den Broeck, Špilak and Chernetckii raced to catch them, the finish line came just a little too soon for the chasers and Sanchez won the stage by half-a-wheel to Navarro with Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) rounding out the podium. Sanchez wears the first leader’s jersey in the 2016 Tour of the Basque Country with a cumulative time of 3:54.21.

 

”Tomorrow is the first hilltop finish. It is 2,8 km and very steep. I think the first selection on this race will come tomorrow. I hope to see our leaders finish in the front and if we can win the stage, that is even better. The week is long and there are many hard stages still to come,” concluded director Azevedo.

 

Encouraging signs for Costa and Ulissi in Pais Vasco
There were three LAMPRE-MERIDA riders in the peloton: Rui Costa, Diego Ulissi and Valerio Conti.

In addition to the three above mentioned blue-fuchsia-green riders, Simone Petilli and Louis Meintjes were there until the last climb. The Italian young talent also attacked from the peloton on the previous climb
 

Petilli was later caught by the rest of the group and contributed with Mori and Mario Costa to support the captains during the run-in to the Aiastia hill.

The performance of Ulissi and Rui Costa on the climbs was good but none of them could made a definitive attack.
 

Rui Costa was very close to joining Sanchez and Navarro in the descent but he could not complete his action.

 

"The overall performance of the team was good. It is a pity not to have taken advantage of a situation that left openings to get a good result,” said sports director Marco Marzano. “The signals for Rui and Diego on the climbs were encouraging, even our other riders moved well, supporting the captains well and moving when the race demanded it, as in the case of Petilli. We are happy with the return to racing for Meintjes after the crash in the Volta a Catalunya.”

 

Caja Rural talent takes mountains jersey in first ever WorldTour race

Caja Rural - Seguros RGA continue to impress at the highest level. On the first stage of Vuelta al País Vasco, Jonathan Lastra was part of a four-man breakaway, which stayed in front for the majority of the day. Despite this being his first ever appearance on the World Tour scene, Lastra didn’t hold back. He put up a great fight on the climbs and managed to score enough KOM points to top the classification and take the KOM jersey at the end of the day. Luis León Sanchez (Astana) won the stage and leads overall, while Eduard Prades finished in 12th place as the team’s best rider today.

Lastra said: “What a day this was. It’s impossible to ask for more in my first World Tour race. On the penultimate climb, I couldn’t follow Edet anymore and I told the team on the radio. They reacted instantly and made sure he didn’t take any points. It was a great team effort. Naturally, I will try to keep this jersey but I also know it won’t be easy. We will see what happens tomorrow”.
 

Izagirre brothers out of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco

Due to sudden illness, two Movistar Team members slated to start the 56th Vuelta al País Vasco could not be on the starting line at Extebarria today. Gorka and Ion Izagirre came down with gastroenteritis during the night and their participation in the Vuelta al País Vasco or "Itzulia" was ruled out on medical grounds.

 

Given the short notice, it proved impossible to arrange replacements, so the team, directed by José Luis Arrieta and José Luis Jaimerena, took the start with six riders. Giovanni Visconti, Winner Anacona, Rory Sutherland, Jesús Herrada and Dani Moreno accompany Nairo Quintana during the six days of racing through the Basque Country. 

 

Nairo Quintana safely through opening stage on bad day for Movistar

Luis León Sánchez (AST) is the first leader of edition 56 of this historic race. After a first stage of no less than 8 categorised climbs between Etxebarria and Markina-Xemein (144 km), he reached the foot of the final descent from the Alto de San Miguel in the company of Dani Navarro (COF), and with sufficient advantage over the group to deny the fast finishers.

 

Despite some nerve-tingling descents in sporadic rain, and a couple of stinging attacks from Alberto Contador (TNK), diligently snuffed out by Quintana and his team-mates, it was, in sum, a relatively straightforward day. The Movistar Team, recovering their morale after the last-minute withdrawal of the Izagirre brothers, duly placed four of their six men in the front group: Nairo Quintana, Jesús Herrada, Giovanni Visconti and Dani Moreno (17th).

 

The team, a solid unit even without the brothers, tomorrow faces the first uphill finish of the week at Garrastatxu-Baranbio (2ª), a 2.7km wall averaging 11.6% in gradient, at the conclusion of a second stage with three categorised climbs, although none as cruel as today's leg-breakers.

 

Alberto Contador after first test: I felt in quite good shape

Alberto Contador finished with the bunch in the first stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, followed closely by Roman Kreuziger. The Spanish rider, who has won the race on three occasions, took the same time as the bunch. While the first stage saw some early breakaways, Tinkoff worked to keep the splits in check, making sure there were no time gaps going into the second day of racing.

 

The 144km first stage was by no means flat, covering a route from Etxebarria to Markina-Xemein, and taking in eight categorised climbs along the way. While the expectation was that it would gently ease riders into the race, but in spite of less than perfect weather at the start, the attacks came early on and stayed clear for most of the stage.

 

The final 10km of the stage saw the GC contenders up the pace to test their rivals, which saw Contador stretching his legs at the 9.3km point to test how the bunch responded. With 1.8km to go, the peloton upped the pace to try and draw the escapees in, a move that saw Tinkoff in amongst the lead bunch, looking fresh and in control. The slightly downhill finish made it easier for the peloton to pull in the break and only metres from the line, the peloton made contact, ensuring the bunch finished with the same time.

 

From the stage finish in Markina-Xemein, Sport Director, Sean Yates, was happy with the outcome.

 

"At the end of the stage there's no time bonuses at this race so that's not something we have to deal with, so all favourites are still in the same situation ahead of tomorrow which is another day.”

 

A week of rest after a podium finish at the Volta a Catalunya meant Contador was feeling confident ahead of the week’s racing.

 

"I had good sensations today even though the first day is always the most difficult one to get back to race mode, especially when coming from a week of rest after Catalunya. The day started wet but, fortunately, we were lucky and got dry conditions later on.”

 

Yates continued, providing an insight into how the team responded to the breakaways.

 

"After the early break went we contributed to the chase together with a few other teams, and always kept the lead under 3:30 minutes so it was under control. On the final climb Navarro was strong and kept going after an attack, and Luis Leon joined over the top with the two of them just staying away. Behind, Alberto finished in the front group with Roman Kreuziger.”

 

Many of the teams were recovering from sickness after the season’s first races were held in cold and wet conditions, said Yates.

 

"Sergio [Paulinho] did a good job today on his first race back - when you're riding on the front you have extra motivation and was good to see him back in action, while Jesper Hansen is still recovering from sickness and did what he could to survive here. Thankfully the weather turned out well today. It was raining at the start but it did clear up and wasn't too cold. Potentially tomorrow could be a different picture but we will be ready."

 

Contador was pleased with the team’s support, but with the earlier wet conditions, was keen that the team stayed healthy.

 

“I felt in quite good shape, the squad was also good today and supported me at all times. We had the stage more or less always under control. I'm happy overall with the day and now the most important thing is to avoid getting a cold and recover as tomorrow we have an important day.”

 

Stage 2 will take the riders from Markina-Xemein, where today’s stage finished, to Baranbio-Garrastatxu. This 174.3km stage is where the first big time gains are expected to take place, with an undulating course that could break up the peloton, before an uphill finish. Yates believes tomorrow’s stage will be very different from today’s.

 

"Tomorrow will be much different and at the end we'll be doing our utmost to win the stage. Astana will have to control the race now they have the lead and it's a question of being at the right place at the right time, principally at the end when we hit the final climb. We've recce'd the stage, and the finish is evil - 2.7km averaging over 13% so it's going to be very, very hard.”

 

Of the coming days, Contador was eager to see how the race panned out, and how his rivals would perform.

 

“There is no doubt the line-up has a very high level with some very strong riders that came here with the intention to win. We will have to take it a day at a time and see our position. Tomorrow we have the first summit finish but, honestly, I don't know it well. I saw it has a tough profile and I don't know what factors will make the peloton break. Obviously, we will have to be at the front in order not to lose because as we saw in Paris-Nice and Volta Catalunya, every single second is very important."

 

Confidence boost for aggressive Kelderman in Pais Vasc

Wilco Kelderman and Robert Gesink showed themselves during the first stage of the Vuelta Cyclist al Pais Vasco today. Kelderman attacked on the penultimate climb and Gesink gave it a try on the final ascent. The two weren’t able to hold Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana Pro Team) from winning the stage, however.

 

“It was nice to see that Wilco and Robert both tried to make a move,” Sports Director Addy Engels said. “Wilco missed the Volta a Catalunya because of his illness and this means that he’s feeling strong again. He didn’t start here with ambitions for the general classification and that doesn’t change after today’s race. He has to make sure that he comes through this race with a good feeling.”

 

Kelderman added that he continued working quickly after he abandoned Catalunya.

 

“I did some longer training sessions and felt good again quite quickly afterwards,” he said. “In the last days, I trained a little harder again. I’m approaching this race day by day. I went well today and when a group of riders attacked, I went with them. That went well, but we didn’t get enough space. That Robert and I were able to give it a try today gives us and the rest of the team some confidence.”

 

Gesink attacked on the final climb, but saw that Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) distanced him quickly afterwards. Navarro was able to stay out of the clutches of the peloton together with Sanchez and finished second.

 

“It’s a good sign anyway that Robert tried it on the final climb,” Engels added. “He didn’t just follow not to lose time, but chose to be aggressive. They face their first uphill finish in the race tomorrow. The final climb will be tough and the overall riders will be tested. We’ll know more after that stage.”

 

Sky: Sergio Henao is looking good for first uphill finish in Pais Vasco

Sergio Henao and Mikel Landa finished safely in a severely reduced bunch after an exciting first stage at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

 

Attacks on the final two climbs of the day stretched the peloton to breaking point and a only a small group remained on the long descent into the finishing town of Markina-Xemein.

 

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) built a small gap to the bunch on the eight kilometre descent and the pair stayed away by the slimmest of margins, with Sanchez sprinting to a narrow victory over Navarro, while Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) came home third, a couple of metres back.

 

Henao rolled home 31st, with Landa just behind, after sticking to the front of the bunch atop the final climb when Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) had attempted a late attack.

 

Speaking to TeamSky.com after the stage Sport Director Dario Cioni was cheered by the team's performance.

 

He said: "Our main goal today was not to lose time on the final climb or on the descent into the finish.

 

"We achieved that and Sergio looked very strong late on, covering Contador's attack. He's in great shape and is looking good for tomorrow.

 

"Landa went really well too - he's got great legs at the minute and we're happy with him."

 

Cioni was positive looking ahead to stage two, adding: "Tomorrow will be hard, it's the first uphill finish, but the guys are feeling good. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the first gaps appear on GC."
 

BMC protect Samuel Sanchez on tough first day in the Basque Country

Stage 1 of Vuelta al Pais Vasco was a tough one with eight categorized climbs over the 144km course. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) took the win in a nail-biting sprint to the line as the peloton, which featured Samuel Sanchez and Darwin Atapuma from BMC, came storming home.

 

Their teammate Silvan Dillier said:

 

“It is my first time racing at Vuelta al Pais Vasco but it wasn’t too bad out there today. I think it could have been much worse with the weather. The weather was quite ok, some small showers but nothing too serious and it wasn’t too cold, so we were lucky.

 

”There were a lot of climbs but I had done my homework coming into the race so I knew what to expect. For sure it was hard but that is normal when you have so many meters of climbing in a short stage like that. I feel like I’m well prepared for the next stages so we’ll take it day by day.”

 

Sports director Yvon Ledanois said:

 

”It was a hard stage and definitely a stage for the General Classification. There were only 35 or 40 riders in the first group and we had Samuel Sanchez and Darwin Atapuma in there. The last climb was really fast and a lot of guys got dropped. It’s the first race in a while for some of the guys like Silvan Dillier and Amaël Moinard.

 

”The priority for us was to have Samuel in the first group and it was good to see Darwin up there with him. Luckily we didn’t have anyone crash. Now that there is a gap in the GC, we will look to get into a breakaway and go for a stage win, as well as keeping Samuel up there.

 

Stephen Cummings makes surprise move in Pais Vasco finale

At the bottom of the descent from the penultimate climb, Steve Cummings, Igor Anton, Serge Pauwels, Mekseb Debesay and Natnael Berhane had all made the front group for Dimension Data with just the final cat 2 climb remaining inside the last 15km.

 

The African Team were able to ensure that Cummings and Anton both made it into the favourites group on the final climb.  As the leading duo only had around 10" for the majority of the drop to the finish, Cummings put in the next attack with 2km to go in an effort to bridge the gap. The Brit was closely marked though and could not get away. Cummings and Anton would both finish with the same time as all of the race favourites.

 

Sports director Alex Sans Vega said:
 

“There was a break of 4 initially, which would become 3 after Etixx-Quickstep called their rider back from the breakaway. Tinkoff and Orica controlled the race for most of the day and we were waiting for the final climb to see what options we would have to work with. Steve was feeling good so he tried in the final kilometers but the 2 leaders already had a good enough gap to just make it to the finish. The guys are healthy and looking strong so we are looking forward to the next stages with much optimism. “