Vuelta a Burgos: Großschartner wins stage 1

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Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed a convincing victory on the opening stage of the Vuelta a Burgos, surging clear of the rest of the field on the sharp final incline to the Mirador del Castillo.

The Austrian sprang out of the saddle on the double-digit gradients on the lower slopes of the one-kilometre climb, and increased his gap over the chasers on the twisting, narrow, cobbled road to the medieval castle that overlooks Burgos.

Großschartner won by a full eight seconds on a finish where sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo won last year, with João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), and Alex Aranburu (Astana) following home.

There was a further two-second gap to general classification contenders such as Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), the latter having earlier embarked on an audacious solo mission as crosswinds battered the bunch.

In the first major international race since the coronavirus pandemic brought racing to a halt in March, Bora-Hansgrohe confirmed that they're hitting the ground running after their domination of last week's Sibiu Tour. After CCC Team had dominated the run-in to the final climb and Trek-Segafredo had started in pole position, Großschartner wasted no time in going on the attack and stole a march on the rest.

"I'm super happy. I checked the parcours yesterday and I saw it wasn't a bad finish for me," said the 26-year-old, who pulled on the first race leader's purple jersey.

"I have to say thanks to the team, they brought me to the perfect position on the last corner at the beginning of the climb. Then it was like the speed stopped a bit, so I went full gas and said, what can happen? If they catch me, they catch me. It's always better to be in front than to have to chase."

The opening day of the five-stage race was all about the double ascent of the steep, technical climb to the Mirador viewpoint, tackled first with 15km to go and then again for the finish. However, despite a sizeable peloton hitting it for the second time, the race had already exploded to life long before.

Shortly after a high-speed crash that led to the abandons of Sebastian Henao (Team Ineos) and Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma), the riders turned into a crosswind on an exposed section of road and the peloton split in three. It was only just coming back together, with 37km to go, when Evenepoel launched his solo move, carving out 45 seconds before being steadily pulled back under pressure from Movistar, and caught with 23km to go.

After an opportunistic attack from Willie Smit (Burgos-BH), Ineos dominated the first ascent of the Alto del Castillo, with Filippo Ganna leading the whole way up, Richard Carapaz and two-time champion Iván Sosa safely in his wheel. However, the British team then faded and didn't place a rider in the top 10, although Carapaz, Sosa, and Eddie Dunbar finished at 10 seconds, the same time as Landa.

With no bonus seconds, Großschartner leads the race by eight seconds over Almeida, Valverde, and Aranburu, with Landa and Gaudu in fifth and sixth at 10 seconds. Rounding out the top 10 on the stage and on GC were Jon Aberasturi (Caja Rural), Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe), Matteo Trentin (CCC Team), and Evenepoel.

A further 10 riders finished on the same time, including the Ineos trio, Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) and George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) but there was a further six seconds back to the next group featuring Enric Mas (Movistar), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma).

How it unfolded

The Vuelta a Burgos marked the return of major international racing, and offered a first real insight into professional cycling during a pandemic. Riders wore masks and underwent temperature checks as they approached the pre-race podium for sign-on, with fans kept well away.

There was further evidence of the fragility of the whole exercise when Israel Start-Up Nation turned up with only five riders, Alex Dowsett having joined Itamar Einhorn in being pulled from the race due to contact with a teammate who had tested positive.

The riders disposed of their masks in the neutral zone and racing soon settled back into its familiar patterns. A four-man breakaway made up of representatives from the smaller teams – Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Gotzon Martin (Euskaltel-Euskdadi), Kiko Galván Fernández (Kern Pharma) and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Kometa Xstra) – headed up the road and carved out a lead of five minutes on the rolling roads.

On the tough mid-stage of the Alto de Altotero (8.4km at 6 per cent), the gap began to fall as Movistar dictated the tempo. The gap was down to just over two minutes when the high-speed crash occurred with 55km to go. Henao and Leemreize were forced out of the race but Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) also hit the deck.

The bunch had barely got its breath back when the crosswinds hit. Belgian echelon experts Deceuninck-QuickStep took control and soon the peloton was split in three, with Ineos, Jumbo-Visma, and Bahrain McLaren forced onto the back foot. There were no more than 20 riders in the front group as the breakaway quartet was wiped out with 40km to go, but the groups then started to come back together.

As they did, QuickStep fired two riders away, one of them paving the way for an audacious attack from Evenepoel. As the peloton lulled, the Belgian talent soon found himself 45 seconds clear, and it was several kilometres before Movistar really took it up, applied some pressure and split the bunch again.

With 25km to go, Evenepoel had seen his lead cut to 30 seconds and he sensed it was time to ease up and await the inevitable, slotting back into the bunch just as the second peloton was catching the Movistar-led front end.

At that point, Smit went solo and lasted all the way to the foot of the first ascent of the final climb, with 15km to go. Ineos took control and led the whole way up, though it was CCC who took over in the final 10km.

The orange jerseys led a reduced strung-out peloton to the final climb, where Trek-Segafredo attempted to take the initiative. When Grossschartner emerged on the steep initial ramp, however, he simply sailed away from the rest. As the gradient eased, he seemed still capable of holding down the power on the twisting roads and ended up winning at a canter.

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