Alejandro Valverde of Movistar finished second to preserve the overall lead. Bauke Mollema (Blanco) came third on the day.

To spice things up, the first stage contained three climbs, the category three Medina and Prado del Rey and the category one Puerto de Las Palomas coming as the icing on the cake barely 34 km from the finish.

After a mere 4 km of racing, the peloton was split as Preben Van Hecke (Topsport-Vlaanderen-Baloise), Josue Moyano (Caja Rural), Sven Jodts (Colba-Superano Ham), and Luis Mas (Burgos BH-Castilla y Leon) joined forces and took off. Subsequently, they built up a lead of up to 4:15. Atop the Prado del Rey, some 100 km from the finish, Van Hecke escaped on his own, but he was eventually caught by the field on the final climb of the day.

With the finish line approaching, a bulky cluster of the favourites, including race leader Valverde, shaped. The 21 riders had about a minute on the peloton as they stormed in towards the finish in Ubrique.

Stage 1:

1 Jonathan Hivert - Sojasun 04.06.36
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte - Movistar Team
3 Bauke Mollema - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
4 Simone Ponzi - Astana Pro Team 0.03
5 Davide Rebellin - CCC Polsat Polkowice
6 Jurgen Van Den Broeck - Lotto Belisol
7 Sander Armee - Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise
8 Robert Gesink - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
9 Jakob Fuglsang - Astana Pro Team 0.07
10 Mikel Nieve Ituralde - Euskaltel-Euskadi
11 Bart De Clercq - Lotto Belisol
12 Daniel Navarro Garcia - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
13 David Belda Garcia - Burgos BH-Castilla y Leon 0.10
14 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas - Movistar Team
15 Simon Spilak - Katusha
16 David Arroyo Duran - Caja Rural
17 Javier Moreno Bazan - Movistar Team 0.13
18 Luis Angel Mate Mardones - Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0.10
19 Jurgen Van De Walle - Lotto Belisol 0.24
20 Kevin Seeldraeyers - Astana Pro Team 0.32

General Classification:

1 Alejandro Valverde - Movistar Team 04.13.22
2 Jurgen Van Den Broeck - Lotto Belisol 0.07
3 Bauke Mollema - Blanco Pro Cycling 0.11
4 Simon Spilak - Katusha 0.12
5 Bart De Clercq - Lotto Belisol 0.17
6 Jakob Fuglsang - Astana 0.19
7 Nairo Quintana - Movistar Team 0.24
8 Jonathan Hivert - Sojasun 0.25
9 Luis Angel Mate - Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0.29
10 Sander Armee - Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0.30
11 Davide Rebellin - CCC Polsat Polkowice
12 Javier Moreno - Movistar Team 0.31
13 Daniel Navarro - Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0.38
14 Mikel Nieve - Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.43
15 Robert Gesink - Blanco Pro Cycling 0.46
16 Janez Brajkovic - Astana 0.50
17 Jurgen Van De Walle - Lotto Belisol 0.53
18 David Arroyo - Caja Rural 1.01
19 Kevin Seeldraeyers - Astana
20 David Belda - Burgos BH-Castilla y Leon 1.05