Tadej Pogachal's feats of strength may be routine now, but they are by no means ordinary, and in the first race of 2023, the Slovenian scored an impressive solo victory in the Classica Haen Paraiso Interior.

When his UAE Team Emirates began to pick up the pace in the last 50 km, the peloton knew exactly what to expect, but no one could stop them.

Ineos Grenadiers youngster Ben Tourette put up stiff resistance when Pogachar took the lead of the pack on a gravel climb with 45km to go, but the British rider's obvious talent only allowed him to slipstream a few hundred meters before he The result was that.

Pogachar caught up to the breakaway Sergio Samitier (Movistar) with a double-quick and pulled away from the Spaniard with 36km to go.

As his previous sprint victories have shown, Pogachar is blessed with sharp acceleration, but here he sheathed his rapier and opted for blunt force instead. Samitier held on as long as he could until Pogachar's eternal motion overwhelmed him. [With 15km to go, Pogachar's lead over the rest of the field was nearly two minutes, but a late puncture forced a bike change. However, he was 48 seconds ahead of Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers), who finished second ahead of Pogachar's new teammate Tim Wellens.

"It's always a little scary, but I was lucky to have a car behind me in the second group.

After the finish, Turner spoke to Eurosport and gave his assessment on behalf of the rest of the peloton. He was only moments away from being in the same bike race as the winner.

"After Pogachar rode off, second place was the best I could do today. What a show."

As the television cameras gathered around Pogachar on the podium, he explained that his winning move had been planned. Hirschi won the sprint for fourth place, underscoring the collective superiority of UAE Team Emirates.

"So far, so good. I couldn't be happier to start the season like this. The team has worked very hard and it's been like a fairy tale.

"The plan was to attack there. The team put me in perfect position and Tim Wellens put me in perfect position going into the gravel section. From there it was just a matter of the legs for the last two minutes of the climb. It was perfect, just as planned

"I had a good game plan and was able to ride alone all the way to the finish.

Pogacar's victory on the Andalusian gravel was reminiscent of his remarkable solo victory in the Strade Bianche last March, but he insisted that the similarities between the two races were limited.

"I don't think I would compare them," he said. They are similar races because they both have gravel, but the gravel is completely different in both races, the climbs and the entrances to the gravel sections are different. It's a totally different experience today."

For Pogachar, the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior will serve as a warm-up for this week's Ruta del Sol, which opens on Wednesday.

"There are a lot of really good riders coming [to Ruta del Sol]," Pogachar said. "The stages are going to be really hard and it's going to be a really tough five days. "

Starting the campaign in Andalusia means a change for Pogachar, who has competed and won on the UAE Tour both of the past two seasons.

Swinging in Spain is not the only change in his spring calendar, as L'Équipe reported on Monday that Pogachar will not return to defend his title in Tirreno-Adriatico this year, but will instead travel directly from Strade Bianche to Paris~! He plans to run the Paris-Nice route directly from Strade Bianche.

Pogachar was tight-lipped about the details of his race program at the start in Ouvéda on Monday, saying only that Milan-San Remo, Tour de Flanders, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège will be the main goals of his spring campaign.

The centerpiece of the season will of course be the Tour de France, where he will be looking to regain the yellow jersey that was taken from him by Jonas Vingegaard last July. His first run this year felt like a statement of intent.