Demi Vollering opened the defence of her Itzulia Women title with an emphatic solo victory on stage 1 in Markina-Xemein.
Marlen Reusser made it a one-two for the Dutch outfit SD Worx, finishing 46 seconds behind her teammate with Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-Sram) in third. Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) finished in fourth on the day unable to live with Vollering on the final climb.
The Dutchwoman accelerated at the foot of the Urkaregi (5.8km at 4.6%) with Niewiadoma in her wheel before accelerating away from her and the rest of the peloton 12.6km from the finish.
"We did the recon and I saw it's a really nice climb where I can gain time so my goal was to go as early as possible and gain a lot of time," said Vollering. "We did really good as a team. They kept me safe by staying at the front and going into the downhills first.
"They also did the lead out perfect up to the bottom of the climb with Marlen [Reusser] putting in a good pace."
Vollering will lead the general classification into stage two, 51 seconds ahead of Reusser in second and Niewadoma a further four seconds back in third. This was Vollering's eighth victory of the year and seventh at World Tour level adding to her incredible 2023 season.
"Of course, I wish I was able to stay with Demi [Vollering] on the climb. I feel like coming into the climb I was kind of frozen so for the fact that i wasn't feeling the best at first I'm pretty stoked to be third," said Niewiadoma.
After a tough day on a typically wet and cold Basque Country stage the riders were happy to arrive at the finish and prepare for two more days of the hardest racing.
Vollering said: "I was really cold. I think the whole bunch was really cold, but on the climbs I felt good and was actually okay. The weather was a big battle in itself today, I hope the coming days will be a bit drier but I think it will stay like this. I hope we stay healthy."
How it unfolded
The most active rider early on was Miryam Maritza Nunez (Massi-Tactic) who was caught first before the foot of the first climb, Gontzagaraigana (2.6km at 6.5%), before she attacked again with Inès Van der Linden. They were reeled in by the bunch with Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx) taking the haul of three QOM points.
Olympic Champion Anna Kiesenhofer (Israel-Premier Tech-Roland) was the next to attack, joined by Aurela Nerlo (Massi-Tactic). Their advantage would grow past the minute mark with 35km remaining.
The gold helmet bearer was not given much more of an advantage as the peloton started to slowly reel the duo in prior to the final climb.
A crash occurred with 19.4km to go on a roundabout with EF Education-Tibco-SVB worst affected. The leading duo was fully absorbed shortly after with Movistar, SD Worx and Jumbo-Visma working on the front.
Karlijn Swinkels (Jumbo-Visma) took the intermediate sprint in Elgoibar and the three bonus seconds with it at the foot of the climb. Vollering wasted no time, launching out of Reusser's wheel with 13.2km remaining in the day. Niewiadoma reacted quickest and followed close behind.
The Pole was soon struggling though and less than 600 metres later, Vollering was all alone. Van Vleuten set off in pursuit behind with Reusser able to sit in her wheel. The Women's World Tour leader shook out her hands with the technical descent looming in the cold and rain with a tough 115km of racing already in the legs.
Vollering took the six QOM points over the summit with the trio mopping up the rest behind. The group of Van Vleuten, Niewiadoma and Reusser were joined by Baril, who was enjoying racing on roads she knows very well as an inhabitant of San Sebastian.
Still solo, Vollering, kept it safe but fast on the wet descent before getting her head down on the flat run-in. After three hours of racing Vollering arrived at the finish, arms aloft with a smile on her face, successfully starting the defence of her Itzulia Women title.
The chasing quartet split with Reusser further sprinting away from Niewiadoma to claim second and another one-two finish for SD Worx 47 seconds after her team leader.
Niewiadoma, Van Vleuten and Baril rounded out the top five behind, with the World Champion again looking inferior to Vollering on the toughest climbs, in stark contrast to last season where she dominated her compatriot.
Vollering claimed her 20th professional victory and seventh at WorldTour level this year. She will hope to repeat the three back-to-back stage wins she achieved in 2022, starting on tomorrow's stage, 133.2km from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Amurrio.
She also leads the Queen of the Mountains classification on six points with Ella Wylie (LifePlus Wahoo) carrying over her strong form from the Navarra Women's Elite Classic to lead the young rider classification.
Results
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