Tour of Slovakia: Kristoff wins stage 1a

Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) took victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Slovakia, taking the race lead as he beat the Deceuninck-QuickStep duo of Michael Mørkøv and Elia Viviani in a bunch sprint.

Groupama-FDJ and Deceuninck-QuickStep controlled the stage, the first of two on Wednesday, for much of the day, ensuring that the early break wouldn't stay away to contest the finish.

The six-man break got away early on, with Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Riwal Readynez), Alexandre Delletre (Delko Marseille Provence), Erik Fetter (Pannon Cycling Team), Florian Kierner (Felbermayr-Simplon), Kenny Molly (Wallonie-Bruxelles), and Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X) making up the day's main break.

The sextet were brought back 10km before the finish, setting up a sprint finish on the cobbled streets of Bardejov. Despite Deceuninck-QuickStep's strength in numberes and fearsome lead-out train, it was Kristoff who powered to victory, his seventh of the season.