Magnus Cort sprints to Gran Camiño opening stage victory

Image 1 of 17

Magnus Cort (EF Education-Easypost) proved the fastest finisher in Vigo, outpacing a disorganised peloton to take victory on the opening stage of the inaugural Gran Camiño stage race. Cort now takes over the first yellow leader's jersey of the race ahead of stage 2 to the uphill finish of Mirador do Ezaro.

The Dane profited from what was a chaotic lead-in to the final sprint to the line as he out-sprinted Giovanni Lonardi (Eolo-Kometa) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the flat finish to the 165-kilometre stage in Galicia.

"I feel amazing," Cort said after the finish. "A win couldn't' be any better for me and the team. It's a nice area to race in. I've been here before in the Vuelta. Some beautiful roads and for me some nice hills, not too steep and I can still come over and sprint at the end. It suits me very well.

"Very happy. The team really did a big job in supporting me. They believed in me and before the start the plan was to go for me. Everybody did their job, and it was super nice to get so much support. Every single one of my teammates was working for me today and it's quite special. I'm super happy that I could finish it off.

"I think there's a lot of really strong climbers here. I'll try [to defend my lead] but I don't see myself as a favourite here."

How it unfolded

The first stage of the race took the riders over largely flat and rolling roads south of O Porriño and up the Atlantic coast as the peloton skirted the Portuguese border. Two third-category climbs — Chandebrito (6.9km at 2.8 per cent) and Cuvi (2.2km at 3.2 per cent) — came at 40 and 30 kilometres to go, but ultimately wouldn't be enough to put off the fastmen for the finish in Vigo. 

The break of the day saw eight riders jump away from the peloton, as Euskaltel-Euskadi's Antonio Angulo was joined out front by Jon Barranetxea (Caja Rural-Seguros-RGA), Jordi Lopez (Kern Pharma), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Brandon Rojas (Drone Hopper-Androni), Daniel Viegas (Eolo-Kometa), Joaquim Silva (Efapel), and José Gonçalves (W52-Porto). 

Though it was never likely to be their day of glory, the group did last out front over both climbs of the day, with Barranetxea taking first and second place on them to grab five points and don the blue mountain classification jersey at the day's end — in addition to the white young rider's jersey. 

Meanwhile, Bol's 35 points in the two intermediate sprints saw him lead that classification, while Silva was named most combative rider, having lasted out front until 20 to go. 

From there, it was Kern Pharma, and Eolo-Kometa who were largely in control of the front of the peloton en route to Vigo, with Kern Pharma looking especially composed before EF-Easypost, Movistar, and Cofidis also moved up heading into the final five kilometres. 

A brief foray off the front by Joan Bennassar (Manuela Fundación) was a last-gasp effort for the attackers, before the sprinters took control of the finale — not that there was much overall control. 

In the end, with no real lead-out trains to speak of in the final kilometre, it was Cort who came out on top, launching his sprint into the final 100 metres and leading it home ahead of Lonardi and Valverde.