The 21-year-old Colombian rider benefitted from a perfectly executed lead-out train to hold off Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) and Jay McCarthy (Bora-hansgrohe).
“It’s a dream come true, today was great for me,” Hodeg said. “They (the team) gave me the opportunity and well, this victory is for them.”
With the winner’s bonus seconds, Hodeg took the overall leader’s white jersey ahead of Tuesday’s second stage from Mataro to Valls.
Victory completed a good few days for the 21-year-old after his victory in the Handzame Classic in Belgium last Friday.
Defending champion Alejandro Valverde finished safely in the peloton as the Movistar man began his bid for a third Tour of Catalunya title.
https://youtu.be/jbjGQGonnY0?t=1739
Volta a Catalunya 2018 – stage 1 results (Calella – Calella):
| 1 | Alvaro Hodeg (Quick-Step Floors) | 3:39:31 |
| 2 | Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 3 | Jay McCarthy (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 4 | Michael Mørkøv (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 5 | Roberto Ferrari (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 6 | Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 7 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 8 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | ,, |
| 9 | Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 10 | Zakkari Dempster (Israel Cycling Academy) | ,, |
