Matthews led an Australian 1-2-3 on the 153.3 kilometres route between Iruñea and Eguesibar-Sarriguren, to secure his first victory of the season.

He finished in front of compatriots Jay McCarthy of Bora-Hansgrohe and Orica-Scott's Simon Gerrans in a time of  3 hours 45.7min.

Earlier in the race, the trio of Igor Anton, who was born in the Basque country, Lluis Mas of Spain and France's Yoann Bagot, made an early break and engineered a lead of around three minutes.

However, with around 20km left to go, Anton was caught while the other two were also eventually reeled in.

Frenchman Julien Alaphilippe launched an attack with five kilometres to go but a rear puncture soon ended his chances of crossing the line first.

Following Alaphilippe's failed attempt, the group reassembled briefly before Nicolas Roche and Alejandro Valverde attempted to break free.

The duo failed to open a significant lead which saw them eventually caught my Matthews, leading to a sprint finish.

The Australian went on to place himself perfectly to power across the line to take victory.

Defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain disappointingly finished around a minute behind the lead group.

The race continues tomorrow with stage two, which will see the cyclists travel from Iruñea to Eltziego, with the six-day International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race set to conclude on Saturday (April 8).