The first of the six stages of the Itzulia Basque Country, an individual time trial of 16 kilometers held near Vitoria, saw the success of Maximilian Schachmann. The Soudal Quick-Step rider crossed the finish line 18 minutes and 37 seconds after his start from the Basketball Arena, recording the best time. The 1994-born cyclist narrowly beat João Almeida of UAE Emirates XRG by a few hundredths of a second, with Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe coming in third, 1" behind.

Schachmann, who already won the first time trial and two other stages of the Basque Country tour in 2019, today also wears the leader's jersey and will proudly display it tomorrow at the start in Pamplona, where the second stage of the race will begin.

FINISH ORDER

1. Max Schachmann Soudal Quick-Step 18:37

2. Joao Almeida UAE Team Emirates-XRG + 00:00

3. Florian Lipowitz Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 00:01

4. Ethan Hayter Soudal Quick-Step + 00:06

5. Aleksandr Vlasov Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe + 00:10

6. Ilan Van Wilder Soudal Quick-Step + 00:11

7. Victor Campenaerts Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 00:12

8. Mattias Skjelmose Lidl-Trek + 00:12

9. Bruno Armirail Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale + 00:13

10. Michael Leonard INEOS Grenadiers + 00:16