After 165.4 kilometres between Vitoria Gasteiz and Labastida, there was a sprint in a large field, which was won by Briton Ethan Hayter from Ineos Grenadiers in his favour. Second place went to the Swiss Mauro Schmid (Soudal - Quick Step) ahead of Jon Aberasturi (Trek-Segafredo).
Thanks to his success on stage 1, Hayter is also the overall leader in the 2023 Tour of the Basque Country. 24-year-old Hayter has a four-second lead over Schmid going into stage 2, which leads from Viana to Leitza over 193.8 kilometres on Tuesday.
The Tour of the Basque Country ends on Saturday after six stages in Eibar. Alongside the Tour of Catalonia, it is the most important one-week stage race in Spain.