The Spanish outfit clocked a time of 48min 55sec to win the 41.3-kilometres stage, which had seen Valverde's colleague and fellow countryman Jose Joaquin Rojas declared the new leader in the race before he was given a three-minute time penalty for pushing midway through. 

The two team-mates Rojas pushed, Portugal’s Nelson Oliveira and Costa Rica’s Andrei Amador, were also penalised one and two minutes respectively.

Ernesto Maggioni, President of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Commissaries, revealed that both BMC Racing, who finished two seconds back in the runners-up spot today, and Trek-Segafredo, had protested after the stage.

"Valverde is the new leader," he was reported as saying by Cycling News.

"He already knows.

"We have seen the images on the television and they show clearly that Rojas pushes the other riders, and that’s forbidden during a race.

"Each time he pushes, he gets a minute’s penalty, as well as a fine for doing so.

"Rojas was pushing.

"He was the last in the line and his teammates are dropping back and he pushes them to take his place in the line because he was on the edge.

"That’s forbidden."

Third place went to Team Sky,6 seconds behind

Trek-Segafredo were the next team home, finishing a further 29 seconds off the pace.

Tomorrow’s third stage is due to cover a distance of 181km from Mataró to La Molina.

"It's a first big effort back at a Pro Tour level this season," said Team Sky's Chris Froome of Great Britain.

"We'll see what we can do in the next few days. 

"Hopefully we've got a few cards to play, with La Molina tomorrow and a big mountain-top finish on Friday (March 24)."