Pierre Rolland put himself in the perfect position to take a surprise overall win in the Volta a Catalunya when he was part of the breakaway trio that distanced the race favourites by 2.40 in the opening stage.

"I had a great desire to do well," he wrote on Facebook after the stage. "In fact, I really had the heart to be at the front because the course lent itself to attacks as rainy weather was forecasted and as the finale was quite technical with a lot of turns.

"After 60km, I was part of a trio after 11 riders had been caught. 3 riders is not much but I had strong riders with me and the finale was to our advantage with the good lead that we had. I could not do anything against the CCC rider [Maciej Paterski] who was simply the fastest.

"I am now second on GC. I am well aware that it is very good, but I also know that the riders in this race are the best in the world. We'll have to take it step by step."