We start our 3 days in Chile with the only flat stage of the race so the sprinters will want to make the most of this one..
The Bookies favourite is Kump which is likely to be due to his strong team support backed by his own ability to get over a hill. However, there are plenty of strong contenders here for this one.
It's a beautiful day here in Santiago and we have spectators out in their droves at the start line which is great to see. The race director car and the motorcycle proving to be a bit of an obstacle here for our early attackers.
It takes a while but with 120km to go on the stage we finally have a settled breakaway of 5 riders that is 2'38 ahead of the Peloton which ensured no one else was able to join these 5. Leknessund Knox Rojas Watson Muller
A great camera shot as the breakaway riders fight for the KOM sprint. Watson just takes it ahead of Muller with Rojas 3rd. 70km to go and the gap is 2'33.
The breakaway reaches the sprint point that's 27km from the finish. Muller wins this one ahead of Watson with in Rojas once again in 3rd. Their gap still stands at 1'20 and the next KOM is only 9km away.
The 2nd KOM sprint of the day and this time it's Muller ahead of Watson. They will be tied for the KOM lead going into tomorrow.
The final sprint point goes to Watson ahead of Knox.
The breakaway has passed the 10km to go banner. Their gap is 1'32 back to the Peloton who will need to pick up the pace!! Rojas is 27 seconds behind his former breakaway companions and finds himself in no man's land.
5km to go for the Peloton. The breakaway still have a gap of exactly 1 minute!
Under the 1km kite and these 4 will be contesting the stage win! Muller at the back looks to have the best position.
And indeed he did! Muller wins Stage 1 of the Tour of Chile. Watson is 2nd while Leknessund takes 3rd ahead of Knox in 4th.
Manninen wins the sprint for 5th ahead of Kump and Hayakawa.
Kennett, Boivin and Bouglas round out the Top 10.
With the bonus seconds, it's a handy little lead for Muller who has 51 seconds to the main group. Tomorrow's stage suits him too so he may well hold on until the final stage where he is bound to suffer.
Tour of Chile Stage - 1 Report 
