The 26-year-old powered to victory ahead of Jay McCarthy (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-Scott) to make for an all-Australian stage 1 podium after 153 kilometres of racing in the Basque Country. After the day's three-man breakaway was caught with just under 20 kilometres left to race, teams began to get their trains in order for what seemed to be an inevitable sprint finale - though that didn't stop a few riders from trying to get clear in the closing stages of the action. Quick-Step's Julian Alaphilippe unleashed a solo attack with a little over four kilometeres to go that looked to have some traction, but even as he seemed to have perhaps stolen a march on the peloton, he suffered a rear wheel puncture, ending his hopes of a stage victory.
Movistar's Alejandro Valverde led a small group off the front shortly thereafter but couldn't quite force a significant split, leading to a sprint finish as everything came back together. Matthews took the win convincingly at the line ahead of McCarthy, with Gerrans just pipping Katusha-Alpecin's Jhonatan Restrepo for third.
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