It was a day of survival for Alberto Contador when the Volta a Catalunya kicked off with a day for the sprinters. The Spaniard got safely through the day and his team is expecting more of the same tomorrow.

The first 169 kilometre long stage of Volta a Catalunya in and around Calella was dominated by a front duo, Boris Vallee (Lotto-Belisol) and Romain Lemarchand (Cofidis). In the peloton, big names such as Chris Froome (Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) and Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador spent the day eyeing each other.
 
The front group was caught on the final climb before new attacks were launched diving down the descent but the peloton never left anyone out of sight and the bunch sprint was inevitable. As the peloton galloped towards the finish line, the street was transformed into pure pace mayhem and the first rider to cross the finish line was Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano).
 
Tinkoff-Saxo DS, Philippe Mauduit summed up the day saying:
 
“Everything went according to plan. It was obviously a day for the sprinters and our main goal was to protect Alberto and keep him out of trouble and the boys succeeded in doing so. We have a good mix of experienced and young riders and everyone did a perfect job. Tomorrow’s stage is somewhat similar and I don’t suspect that any GC riders will make any sudden moves,” said the French sports director.

You can read our preview of stage two here and follow our live coverage at 15.15 CET on CyclingQuotes.com/live.