Luis Leon Sanchez wins Tour of the Basque Country stage one
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 04/04/16 5:32pm
Luis Leon Sanchez took the early lead of the Tour of the Basque Country by sprinting to victory on stage one.
The Astana rider escaped from a reduced peloton alongside Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) on the descent from the last of the day's eight categorised climbs, with 8km to go, and then comfortably beat his fellow Spaniard in a dash for the line in Markina-Xemein.
The chasing pack followed just metres behind, with Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) winning the sprint for third place.
There are no bonus seconds on offer at the six-day race, meaning Sanchez takes the leader's yellow jersey but is on the same time as second-placed Navarro and third-placed Gerrans in the general classification.
The race continues on Tuesday with a mountainous, 174.2km second stage ending with a summit finish at Amurrio-Baranbio.
Stage one result and general classification
1 Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, 3:54:21
2 Daniel Navarro (Esp) Cofidis, same time
3 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge, st
4 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, st
5 Simon Clarke (Aus) Cannondale, st
