Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) sprinted to victory on stage one of the Tour of Beijing, foiling the efforts of Team Sky who had led the peloton from start to finish.

Mezgec launched a perfectly timed sprint, coming from the wheel of Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) to pass the American and edge both him and Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEDGE) to the stage win and the first leader’s jersey of this year’s race.

The result meant a disappointing finale for Team Sky, for whom Ben Swift faded out of contention on the final bend, despite a stage-long lead-out from his team.

Instead, it was left to Mezgec to take his sixth victory of the season, and first since winning the final stage of the Giro d’Italia.

And the delighted Slovenian believed the team had stuck to their plan perfectly, saying: “I suffered today as it was constantly up and down and the race was at quite high altitude for a long time.

“The team was strong in helping control early on and then keeping me in position when it was hard, keeping me fresher for the finish.

“The plan was to stick me in the right wheel at the front in the final few kilometres and this worked perfectly. It’s great to win again here in Beijing and hopefully we can continue this week with other opportunities for us.

“It will be hard to defend the overall in the next few days before the mountain stage but we will see tomorrow how it is.”

Earlier, with the chances to get into a break this season fast running out, three riders took up the mantle from the flag – Tosh van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol), Jeremy Roy (FDJ.fr) and Julian Kern (Ag2r-La Mondiale) going clear.

No reaction from the peloton meant the three stretched the gap out to eight minutes, with Kern the first to claim maximum bonus points at the intermediate sprint.

Team Sky eventually took up the chase, lining out on the front to half the deficit, while the only other incident of note saw Rui Costa lose Lampre-Merida team-mate Nelson Oliveira, who abandoned.

Back at the front, van der Sande did enough to take the first King of the Mountains jersey, sitting up as the gap began to come down.

Roy pressed on alone, Kern also heading backwards as they passed through the second intermediate sprint.

BMC Racing were among the teams to join the chase on the front, Gilbert taking advantage to pouch a bonus second at the final sprint.

Roy was eventually caught after just less than 150 kilometres up the road as Sky continued in their familiar mode of lining out the full squad on the front.

Cannondale lent firepower, through Cameron Wurf, but Bernie Eisel continued to push hard on the front as the peloton stayed together into the final 15 kilometres.

Several teams, Lampre-Merida and Ag2r-La Mondiale among them, came forward but were happy to sit on the wheels of the team in black and blue as Eisel finally relented in his pace-setting.

Wurf took his turn in the wind, almost as though he were rehearsing for a place in the Sky train, but his green jersey was the only disruption to the British team’s complete control on the front.

The bunch finally responded, the sprint trains moving up, as the kilometres ticked down sufficiently enough to kickstart the fight for position.

Ian Boswell and Dario Cataldo drilled hard on the front, with Sky and Lotto-Belisol alongside them, picking the left-hand side of the road.

Giant-Shimano and Omega Pharma-Quickstep chose the opposite side, however, to disrupt proceedings heading into the final four kilometres.

Sky remained unperturbed, returning to the front on the big, continuous curve heading to the final run-in, however – no other team able to consistently hold onto the front, despite several digs as the peloton used the full width of an eight-lane dual carriageway.

Sky took advantage, utilising their road position as Edvald Boasson Hagen, Chris Sutton and Ben Swift came forward.

Omega Pharma-Quickstep finally took the initiative from Sky on the final left-hand turn, however, as their day up front came to nothing.

Mezgec was fourth wheel at that point but when Farrar opened up the sprint into the final 300 metres, the Slovenian was straight onto his wheel and passed him with perfect timing.

Riding low into the headwind, his acceleration was simply too good for his rivals as he secured his second consecutive victory in this race – having closed out last season with success on the final stage.

A late acceleration by Ewan earned him second place, with Farrar taking third, but it will be Mezgec rolling out in red for stage two.

Tour of Beijing 2014: stage one – result

1) Luka Mezgec (SVN) – Giant-Shimano – 4.22.58hrs
2) Caleb Ewan (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE – ST
3) Tyler Farrar (USA) – Garmin-Sharp
4) Sacha Modolo (ITA) – Lampre-Merida
5) Nikolas Maes (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep
6) Moreno Hofland (NED) – Belkin Pro Cycling
7) Steele von Hoff (AUS) – Garmin-Sharp
8) Boy van Poppel (NED) – Trek Factory Racing
9) Davide Appollonio (ITA) – Ag2r-La Mondiale
10) Olivier le Gac (FRA) – FDJ.fr

General classification

1) Luka Mezgec (SVN) – Giant-Shimano – 4.22.48hrs
2) Caleb Ewan (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE +4″
3) Julian Kern (GER) – Ag2r-La Mondiale +5″
4) Tyler Farrar (USA) – Garmin-Sharp +6″
5) Jeremy Roy (FRA) – FDJ.fr – ST
6) Tosh van der Sande (BEL) – Lotto-Belisol +8″
7) Philippe Gilbert (BEL) – BMC Racing +9″
8) Sacha Modolo (ITA) – Lampre-Merida +10″
9) Nikolas Maes (BEL) – Omega Pharma-Quickstep – ST
10) Moreno Hofland (NED) – Belkin Pro Cycling