Michael Matthews has sprinted to victory in the opening stage of the prestigious Tour of the Basque Country to top an all-Australian podium where he was flanked by Jay McCarthy and Simon Gerrans.

The 26-year-old Matthews, in his first race for Team Sunweb at the UCI World Tour event, finished ahead of his compatriots after 153 kilometres of racing in the Basque Country in a time of three hours, 45 minutes and seven seconds.

Bora-Hansgrohe's McCarthy was second with Team Orica's Gerrans just pipping Katusha-Alpecin's Jhonatan Restrepo for third.

"I wasn't quite where I wanted to be in a few of the big races," Matthews said.

"Today, we rode the front all day and came out with the win, so it's an amazing day.

"I always love to be in the Basque Country. I didn't get to do the Basque Country last year, so it's nice to be back.

"I love the style of racing here. It's my style, [It's my] third victory in three years. I've had at least one victory in Basque Country every year that I've started, so it's nice to keep that ball rolling."

Alex Aranburu, Yoann Bagot and Igor Anton formed the main breakaway of the day just moments after the race kicked off in Pamplona.

The trio opened up a four minute-advantage within the first 20km of racing before the peloton picked up the pace.

They were caught 19km from the line, with the order of teams at the front changing constantly.

Gerrans led the bunch into the final corner, however McCarthy pulled in front rounding the bend.

But Matthews powered past on the finishing straight and triumphed with a comfortable margin, nabbing his first win of the season.

AAP/ABC