Urtasun wins opening stage at Vuelta a Asturias

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Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the first stage of the Vuelta a Asturias from Orviedo to Llanes in northern Spain on Wednesday.

His Euskaltel-Euskadi team dominated the final five kilometres of the 156km stage and then Urtasun timed his sprint perfectly, coming up on the barriers to pass Angel Vicioso (Andalucia) and Joaquin Sobrino (Seleccion Espana). Australia's Johnnie Walker (Footon-Servetto) finished eighth in the sprint.

Thank to his win and the time bonuses awarded to the first three riders, Urtasun also pulled on the leader's yellow jersey and leads Vicioso by six seconds. Sobrino is third at 8 seconds.

"The stage flew by. We covered over 50 kilometres in the first hour and the attacks happened one after another. It was only when
Landa and Corti attacked that we could take a break,” Urtasun said. “We then used our heads in the final part and worked in an orderly manner to control the last kilometre. The team was outstanding and all did a great job. They trusted me in the sprint and I’m very happy to repay that confidence with the win. I saw Vicioso go. I thought he was going a bit long, I managed to close the gap and achieve a big win.”

The stage finished earlier than scheduled after the bunch covering the first hour at an average of 48km/h despite the hot conditions.

Nico Siejmens (Cofidis) was the first to get away but was quickly caught as the bunch got ready for the early intermediate sprint. Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won it, then as the pace eased, Marco Corti and Mikel Landa (Orbea) got away. They quickly opened a gap on the third category Ortiguero climb, mid-way through the stage and still had 6:30 with 50km to go.

The two fought to hold off the peloton, working smoothly together. It looked like they had a chance of victory but the Palmeiras and Miche teams, and then the Andalucia and CajaSur teams chased them down. They were caught with just eight kilometres to go as the sprinters' teams lined out the peloton.

Euskaltel-Euskadi then took over, with Under 23 world time trial champion setting a blistering pace in the final kilometre to set up Urtasun in the sprint.

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