Cort Nielsen kicks off the season with great sprint, claiming victory in the first stage of O Gran Camiño

Magnus Cort Nielsen won the first stage of the O Gran Camiño. At the finish line, it ended in a sprint, and the Dane from Uno-X Mobility was the fastest. Santiago Mesa and Giovanni Lonardi shared the podium.

It's race time again in Spain. While most riders are now preparing for the Belgian or French opening weekends, several teams have traveled to Spain to participate in the fourth edition of the 2.1 stage race. Last year, Visma | Lease a Bike dominated the race, with Jonas Vingegaard winning three stages and the GC. The Dutch team will not be participating this year, so other WorldTour teams have a chance to shine.

Six riders quickly took off in the hilly opening phase of the first stage. The breakaway riders had a lead of more than three minutes on the peloton, which quickly diminished to just under two minutes on the ascending sections. Yet the six riders were able to maintain their lead until late in the race, and the peloton did not close the gap even though Soudal Quick-Step and other teams took control of it.

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Major teams move to the front and reduce the lead of the breakaway riders

Moments later, the Belgian formation also received support from Israel-Premier Tech and UNO-X Mobility in the hunt for the leaders. With 50 kilometers to go, the six leaders were still led by a minute, and they could feel their pursuers breathing down their necks. The first leaders were caught on the last categorized climb of the day, and the peloton was back together with 40 kilometers to go.

This triggered one rider, Alvaro Sagrado, to launch a new attack. The rider, who rides for the small Spanish team Illes Balears Arabay, quickly built up a minute lead. With 32 kilometers to go before the finish line, Sagrado was joined by Italian Martin Marcellusi, so the two leaders began the final stretch of the first stage together.

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Frontrunners keep it up for a long time, but a sprint is inevitable

The duo did not sit still for a second. With eighteen kilometers to go, they still had a minute lead. And with a few slightly downward slopes in the final stretch, there was a chance for a beautiful finish.

Unfortunately, Urko Berrade also had bad luck about fifteen kilometers from the finish. The Equipo Kern Pharma rider, who won a stage in the Vuelta a España last year, got a flat tire and faced a half-minute disadvantage on the peloton. The Spaniard had to catch up quickly to keep his chances of winning the GC on track. However, the gap grew rather than decreased. Berrade eventually lost a minute.

As we entered the last ten kilometers, we entered a longer descending section that continued until five kilometers from the finish. Thanks to the hard work of Soudal Quick-Step and Uno-X Mobility, the peloton was only twelve seconds behind the leaders. This was the signal for Marcellusi to break away alone. However, the brave attempt by the VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè rider failed with five kilometers to go.

It ended up being a bunch of sprints in Matosinhos. For a moment, it looked like there would be a close sprint between Cort Nielsen and the Colombian Mesa of Efapel Cycling. But the Dane crossed the finish line with a margin of more than a bike length. Lonardi finished third, while Jordi Warlop was the best rider from the Low Countries in fifth place. Unfortunately, we also saw a (minor) crash in the sprint. A rider from Euskaltel-Euskadi hit a signpost in his crash.

Results stage 1 O Gran Camiño 2025

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