Rodriguez victorious in Zumarraga

Image 1 of 54

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) outsprinted his three breakaway companions to win the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco's first stage in Zumarraga. The 31-year-old Spaniard led through the final corner with 100m to go and held off the late charge from Olympic road champion Sammy Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Andreas Klöden (RadioShack) finished third while teammate Chris Horner, the defending Pais Vasco champion, crossed the line in fourth one second later.

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) took the sprint for fifth place, six seconds behind Rodriguez, from a six-rider chase group.

With the victory, Rodriguez earned the first leader's jersey of the six-day stage race in Spain's Basque region. Sanchez and Klöden hold second and third respectively with the same time as Rodriguez with Horner fourth overall, one second behind.

"I was so happy with this victory, so much that, when I reached the finishing line, I almost cried for joy," said Rodriguez. "In the first part of my season I had some health troubles but now I hope I left behind all these troubles and I will be able to work and train in the best way for my next goals.

"I admit I was very nervous because until now in 2011 I've never been able to be among the best riders in any race I took part in. But I have to thank all the team, from Tchmil downwards, for always having told me to stay calm because our principal goal this year will be the Giro d'Italia.

"However, I needed an indication for myself and that's the reason why I told my teammates that, if we all were inside the group on the Alto de la Antigua, I would try to attack. Well, I have to say that everything was perfect and now I feel calmer and more confident for the rest of the season".

The stage was dominated by a three-man break which formed 15km into the 151.2km stage. Ivan Rovny (RadioShack), Bram Tankink (Rabobank) and Mathieu Perget (AG2R La Mondiale) pushed out a lead in excess of six minutes but the trio's escape was neutralised on the penultimate Alto de Gabiria climb with approximately 14km remaining.

For their lengthy escape Tankink earned the sprint classification jersey while Perget leads the mountains classification.

The winning break formed on the day's final climb, the 2.5km Alto de la Antigua, a savage kick-in-the-tail whose summit is positioned just 3km from the finish line and features a steepest gradient of 20 percent. Horner jumped away from the peloton early on the climb and was joined near the summit by Rodriguez. The Katusha rider was first over the top, closely followed by Horner and Sanchez. In their wake was a shattered peloton in which some riders were forced to dismount and push their bikes on the steepest pitch near the summit.

Klöden, the 2000 Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco champion, was only seconds in arrears over the top of the Alto de la Antigua and the 35-year-old German bridged to the leading trio on the descent to the finish.

Sanchez went to the front approaching the last corner in the technical finale, but Rodriguez got through the corner first and took a narrow, photo-finish victory.

The peloton faces another hilly day on stage two, 163km from Zumarraga to Lekunberri, in which the riders face seven categorised climbs, including the category one Alto de Azpiroza only 3km from the finish.