Dan Martin gets season underway in Spain on wrong side of time split

Dan Martin has come safely through the opening stage of Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana today though he lost some time at the finish.

A small gap, of three seconds, emerged in the bunch behind the top 19 riders and Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) was on the wrong side of it.

Though the gap was a modest one, especially with the climbing to come, one of the men who gained the time was Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Ineos).

The Pole was 19th in the bunch sprint that decided the 180km stage from Castelló to Vila-Real, with anyone behind him losing three seconds.

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Dan Martin was back in 91st place, towards the back of the bunch, as Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jumbo-Visma) claimed victory.

He won from Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Team Emirates).

Groenewegen takes the race leader's jersey into tomorrow's stage 2 which features a climb of 2km at the finish and could prove a chance for an early season win for Ireland's Martin.