Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) secured his second WorldTour victory in less than two weeks as he held off Peter Velits in a sprint from a 17-man group at the end of a dramatic first day of racing in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. A number of the pre-race favourites lost time due a to a crash at the top of the last climb with just 7km remaining.

All was set for the expected sprint finish as a strung-out peloton approached the top of the final climb of today's first stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. However, disaster struck just as the riders prepared to take on the final fast 7km descent to the finish line in Elgoibar.

A large crash in the front end of the peloton brought down a number of the pre-race favourites including Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) and Rein Taaramae (Cofidis). The tumble created a split in the group, and the 17 riders who were ahead of the crash managed to escape their competitors.

Simon Gerrans' stage victory in the Volta a Catalunya had indicated that the Australian approaches his best form ahead of the Ardennes classics. Hence, it was no surprise to see one of the favourites for the stage win crest the summit in the front end of the peloton. His teammate Pieter Weening was also part of the front group, and the lanky Dutchman accelerated violently on the descent in an attempt to hold off the chasers.

A number of the GC contenders were also part of the front group - among them the two pre-race favourites Alberto Contador (Team Saxo-Tinkoff) and Richie Porte (Team Sky) - and they sensed an opportunity to gain important time on some their rivals. Contador and Porte's teammate Sergio Henao both assisted in the pace-making, and as a consequence the front group managed to hold off the chasers by 5 seconds at the line.

Gerrans rewarded the hard work by Weening with a dominant sprint win ahead of Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Angel Vicioso (Katusha) while behind defending champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) managed to reduce his time loss as he passed the finish line at the head of the second group. With his victory Gerrans is of course the first leader of the race.

The biggest losers in the GC battle were Van Den Broeck and Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step). The Lotto-Belisol captain had a deep wound on his elbow and lost plenty of time while the world time trial champion fought valiantly to reduce his time loss. He ended up crossing the line 28 seconds behind Gerrans and thus probably lost all chances for the overall victory.

Txurruka and Didier in the early break

The 156,5km stage was a typical Basque affair. At just 156,5km, it took place on a short route in and around the city of Elgoibar and 6 categorized, there was plenty of terrain to test the riders legs. The summit of the last climb was located just 7km from the finish, and from there it was a fast descent all the way to the finish line.

The race started at a fast pace with a number of attacks, and after only 15km of racing a dangerous group contaning Mikel Landa (Euskaltel), Mikael Cherel (Ag2r), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Matthew Busche (Radioshack), Maciej Paterski (Cannondale), Xabier Zandio (Sky) and Angel Madrazo (Movistar) managed to get clear.

With a number of the strongest teams all represented in the break, Team Saxo-Tinkoff would be expected to chase hard all day if the break was allowed any leeway, and so they closed it down immediately. However, Txurruka managed to escape just before the capture, and he was later joined by Laurent Didier (Radioshack) in the day's early break.

Saxo-Tinkoff up the tempo

The break was allowed to open up a gap of more than 5 minutes before Team Saxo-Tinkoff put Sergio Paulinho, Oliver Zaugg and Jesus Hernandez on the front of the peloton. The trio did the majority of the work all day, and just behind Contador was a constant presence in the front end of the peloton.

Txurruka easily beat Didier in the battle for the mountain points and made sure to be the first leader in the climbers' classification. Meanwhile, the steady work by Saxo-Tinkoff gradually reduced the break's advantage, and as they entered the day's penultimate climb, the duo was only 1 minute ahead.

That was the signal for Txurruka to attack his companion who had no chance to follow the little Spaniard. He powered away and managed to extend his lead to 1.30 while Didier was caught by the peloton.

As the peloton approached the day's final climb, Txurruka was caught and the battle for position intensified. Most teams gathered their troops towards the front end of the peloton, and Saxo-Tinkoff were forced into the background.

Kiryienka at the front

At the bottom of the day's final challenge, Vasil Kiryienka upped the pace team leader Porte in his wheel. The hard tempo set by the Belarussian strung out the peloton, and a number of riders were dropped. As they approached the top, Jose Herrada moved to the front with team leaders Rui Costa and Nairo Quintana in his wheel, and it was the Movistar trio who crested the summit at the head of the peloton.

Exactly at the top of the climb, a large crash happened. Dries Devenyns seemed to be the most serious hurt while the other riders were quickly back on their bike. However, the crash had broken the peloton into pieces, and a front group of 17 man had set off.

Behind, Euskaltel chased valiantly to bring defending champion Sanchez back to the front, but the failed in their attempt. Gerrans opened up his amazing turn of speed to take his third WorldTour victory of the year while Sanchez crossed the finish line with a time loss of 5 seconds to his main rivals.

Result:

1. Simon Gerrans

2. Peter Velits +0.00

3. Angel Vicioso

4. Francesco Gavazzi

5. Jakob Fuglsang

6. Sergio Henao

7. Alberto Contador

8. Richie Porte

9. Nairo Quintana

10. Pieter Weening

Generel classification:

1. Simon Gerrans

2. Peter Velits +0.00

3. Angel Vicioso

4. Francesco Gavazzi

5. Jakob Fuglsang

6. Sergio Henao

7. Alberto Contador

8. Richie Porte

9. Nairo Quintana

10. Pieter Weening