Visma | LaB attacks Magnier with everything they have, but Frenchman ultimately too strong in first stage in Slovakia

The opening stage of the Slovakian 2.1 race started and finished in Barjedov, a small town in the northeast of the country with a population of around 35,000. An eastern and then western loop would take the riders to the finish after 141.2 kilometers (and three short but challenging climbs).

Three WorldTour teams appeared at the start: Jayco AlUla, Soudal Quick-Step, and Visma | Lease a Bike. The search was on for a successor to Mauro Schmid, who won last year's multi-day race. With names such as Cian Uijtdebroeks, Thomas Gloag, Paul Double, and more, it was set to be an exciting battle for the overall victory.

It didn't take long after the start for the leading group to break away. Frenchman Oscar Nilsson-Julien (Groupama-FDJ development team), Dutchman Stijn Daemen (VolkerWessels), Czech Michal Schlegel (Elkov-Kasper), and Polish Lukasz Owsian (Mazowsze Serce Polski) rode away and were given the green light by the peloton.

The early breakaway did not gain more than three minutes, and in the peloton, it was Josef Cerny who did the work at the front on behalf of Soudal Quick-Step. The Belgian team had Magnier, the absolute favorite, with them, so The Wolfpack took responsibility. The four riders saw the peloton closing in on the Kurov climb, about 25 kilometers from the finish.

It was a short but relatively vicious climb, and as a result, the breakaway group fell apart. Nilsson-Julien and Daemen remained: the Dutchman won the mountain sprint and took the mountain jersey. Behind them, however, Thomas Gloag saw his chance. The Brit from Visma | Lease a Bike, who will move to Q36.5 next year, set off on his own adventure. However, the first attempt to get ahead in the rankings came to nothing, thanks to Magnier's men.

After Gloag's attack, it was soon Bart Lemmen's turn. The Dutchman managed to catch up with the lone leader Nilsson-Julien (Daemen had been caught), but this Visma rider also stood no chance against the advancing peloton. It was then Cian Uijtdebroeks' turn: Visma | Lease a Bike made it very, very difficult for the sprinters!

It was then Lemmen again, then Uijtdebroeks, then Niklas Behrens, then Thijmen Graat, then Lemmen, then Uijtdebroeks... The industrious Killer Bees did everything they could to break up the sprinters' teams. But Yves Lampaert was invaluable to leader Magnier: the experienced Belgian was the right man to close every gap. Miraculously, everything stayed together.

So it came down to a sprint after all. Soudal Quick-Step still had more than enough riders left to launch Magnier, but he had Slovakian champion Lukas Kubis (Unibet Tietema Rockets) on his wheel. However, Kubis was no match for the Frenchman's power: he finished second, ahead of Joppe Heremans (VolkerWessels).