MADRID, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Paul Seixas of Decathlon-CMA CGM won the opening stage of the Tour of Basque Region cycle race on Monday with an impressive performance.
Seixas was rewarded for an aggressive ride in the 13.8-kilometer time trial, which started and finished in Bilbao in northern Spain, averaging 48 kilometers per hour to complete the stage in 17 minutes and nine seconds.
The 19-year-old Frenchman finished 23 seconds ahead of Kevin Vauquelin of Ineos Grenadiers, with Felix Groschartner of UAE Team Emirates 27 seconds behind and Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe 28 seconds off the pace.
Juan Ayuso of Lidl Trek was among the disappointments of the day, finishing one minute and 16 seconds behind Seixas as his overall hopes suffered an early setback. The highly rated Spaniard struggled on the opening climb and also had some handling problems on the descent.
Although the opening stage was listed as a time trial, it was far from ideal for specialists in the discipline, beginning with a steep two-kilometer climb with gradients of up to 11 percent, followed by a long descent into the center of Bilbao and ending with a demanding final kilometer featuring a 19 percent ramp.
Tuesday's stage starts in Pamplona and includes four classified climbs over the 164 kilometers to the Mendukilo Caves. ■
