Martin Velits was the top finisher in the 153km stage 1 of Vuelta ciclista al Pais Vasco on Monday.
Martin Velits positioned himself toward the front in the final kilometers as the race had been back together — save a few short lasting attacks — since 15.7km remained. However, Joaquin Rojas (Movistar Team) won the bunch sprint up the right side. Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) was 2nd and Fabian Wegmann (Garmin-Barracuda) was 3rd.
Two riders had been off the front for much of the race, attacking at the 16km point.
Martin Velits' brother Peter took 27th, finishing alongside teammate Jerome Pineau (26th).