Davide Cimolai pips Nacer Bouhanni in Stage One sprint finish

Updated 20/03/2017 at 17:09 GMT

Davide Cimolai overhauled Nacer Bouhanni in a sprint finish to win the opening stage of the Tour of Catalunya in Calella.

FDJ's Italian rider Davide Cimolai (R) crosses the finish line to win, followed by Cofidis' French rider Nacer Bouhanni after the first stage of the 97th Volta Catalunya 2016, a 178,9 km ride starting and finishing in Calella, on March 20, 2017

Image credit: AFP

The 175.8km stage started and finished in the same seaside town, but there was plenty of drama in between as the peloton were forced to negotiate a hilly opening to the race.

Fatigue played a part in a sprint finish that reflected the difficulty of a day that had included six categorised climbs, with Bouhanni setting out for home a fraction early and Cimolai catching him on the line.

Volta a Catalunya

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The traditional sprinters struggled on a testing day, although Andre Greipel deserves credit for making it through in the peloton. The German looked in a good place to contest for the stage win, but was boxed in as his tired legs began to fade in the final 300m and had to settle for a fifth-place finish.

Lotto Soudal's German rider Andre Greipel waits for the start of the first stage of the 97th Volta Catalunya 2016, a 178,9 km ride starting and finishing in Calella, on March 20, 2017

Image credit: AFP

Team Sky's Chris Froome made his European racing debut of the season and fared comfortably on the day. Froome is among the favourites to win the general classification, along with Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde.