Vuelta al Pais Vasco: Matthews claims first stage victory

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Michael Matthews sprinted to his first win in Team Sunweb kit Monday on the opening stage of the Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco.

The 26-year-old powered to victory ahead of Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) to make for an all-Australian stage 1 podium after 153 kilometres of racing in the Basque Country.

After the day's three-man breakaway was caught with just under 20 kilometres left to race, teams began to get their trains in order for what seemed to be an inevitable sprint finale - though that didn't stop a few riders from trying to get clear in the closing stages of the action.

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Quick-Step's Julian Alaphilippe unleashed a solo attack with a little over four kilometeres to go that looked to have some traction, but even as he seemed to have perhaps stolen a march on the peloton, he suffered a rear wheel puncture, ending his hopes of a stage victory.

Movistar's Alejandro Valverde led a small group off the front shortly thereafter but couldn't quite force a significant split, leading to a sprint finish as everything came back together. Matthews took the win convincingly at the line ahead of McCarthy, with Gerrans just pipping Katusha-Alpecin's Jhonatan Restrepo for third.

How it unfolded

Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural), Yoann Bagot (Cofidis) and Igor Anton (Dimension Data) formed the main breakaway of the day just moments after the race kicked off in Pamplona.

The trio quickly opened up a sizable gap, growing their advantage to four minutes within the first 20 kilometres of racing before the peloton picked up the pace. That brought the gap down to a little under three minutes, and it hovered there or thereabouts for roughly the next 80 kilometres.

The advantage began to fall as the break took on the day's third and final climb, cresting the ascent with around two minutes and 60 kilometres left.

On the long downhill that followed, the bunch shaved another minute off the gap with Sunweb setting the tempo.

The peloton made the catch around 19 kilometres from the line. The order of teams at the front was changing constantly over the next few kilometres, with LottoNl-Jumbo and Orica-Scott first joining Sunweb and then Movistar taking over at the helm before a flurry of late attacks.

Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) tried to go clear with five kilometres to go but was quickly reeled in. Then it was Alaphilippe's turn to try his luck, taking advantage of a tricky run-in to the finish. The Quick-Step rider opened up a gap of several seconds at first before a puncture sealed his fate.

After the bunch swept up the Frenchman, a small lead group formed as Valverde put the hammer down out front, but the pack did not allow them much breathing room, with everything brought back together for a sprint in the final kilometre.

Orica led the bunch into the final corner but McCarthy pulled in front rounding the bend. Despite McCarthy's best efforts, however, Matthews powered past on the finishing straight and triumphed with a comfortable margin, nabbing his first win of the season and the overall lead to start the race.

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