The opening 141.6 km from Velenje to Rogaška Slatina was billed as a plain stage but its rolling final third broke the bunch into a smaller, punchier group for the finish. Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, by far the strongest squad on paper, controlled the closing kilometres and set up Laurence Pithie for a clean lead-out.

The New Zealander timed the sprint perfectly to win ahead of teammate Arne Marit and Bahrain Victorious's Edoardo Zambanini, an emphatic statement of the German team's depth on day one. With the same time across the front group, Pithie pulled on the first leader's jersey thanks to the stage win and bonus seconds.

It set the tone for the sprint-led opening phase of the race, with the general classification riders content to sit safely in the bunch ahead of the climbing tests to come.

Laurence Pithie leads the general classification after stage 1 on the strength of his stage win and bonus seconds. With the front group finishing together, the GC contenders — including teammates Florian Lipowitz and Giulio Pellizzari, plus Bahrain's Jakob Omrzel — sit only seconds back, leaving the overall to be decided on the climbing stages later in the week.