Tadei Pogachar will make his 2023 season debut in Monday's Classica Haen Paraiso Interiors one-day race.

Pogachar's training was interrupted in January by a bout of gastroenteritis, leading to a change in his race program. He will not defend his 2022 victory at the UAE Tour later this month, instead opting for a less intense season debut, free of the pressure and expectations of winning in Spain, the home of his team sponsor.

After the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior, Pogachar will run the Vuelta Ciclista Andalucía-Ruta del Sol on February 15-19. His performance in Spain will show his form and build-up to the spring classic.

"I'm a little nervous as always because I haven't raced in a while. It's going to be really interesting and hectic, especially on a course like this, and I'm looking forward to it," Pogachal said on Sunday afternoon after completing a reconnaissance run on the gravel section in the olive trees of the Clasica Haen Paraiso Interior with UAE Team Emirates.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pogachar admitted that Milan-San Remo, Tour de Flanders, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège are important goals for the spring.

According to French newspapers, Pogachar will defend his Strade Bianche title on Saturday, March 4, and fly to France to start Paris-Nice the next day. He has competed and won the Tirreno Adriatico the past two years.

For now, Pogachal's mind is on Spanish gravel racing, and he appeared in an Instagram reel made by Simon Geschke (Cofidis) on Sunday during a reconnaissance in one of the gravel sections. Geschke said, "The Slovenians video bombed me."

The video showed one of the seven gravel sections in the 178-km race. The Clásica Jaen Paraiso Interior has 55 km of spectacular but grueling dirt roads and 2300 m of climbing. In contrast, Strade Bianche has 63 km of dirt roads spanning 11 sectors.

Alexey Lutsenko won the first edition in 2022 ahead of Pogker's new teammate Tim Wellens; the UAE Team Emirates lineup also includes Matteo Trentin, Alessandro Covi, and Marc Hirschi.

Rivals include Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Pavel Sivakov and Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers), and Simon Clark (Israel Premier Tech).

Pogachar last raced in October, finishing second in the Giro delle Miglia and winning back-to-back races in the Tre Valli Varesine and Il Lombardia. He finished second in the Tour de France behind Jonas Vingegaard, but ended the season as world number one and determined to return to the Tour and win again.

He was cautious about whether he could win right away in his season debut.

"The goal is to find a good feeling in the race," he said.

"There are really strong teams here and different possibilities to achieve good results. So I just want to feel the feeling of the bike like I used to and enjoy the race like I always do. And I'll just go with the flow."

"It was a fun winter, although I had a setback in January due to illness. But it wasn't serious and I trained again at the end of January and now I'm ready for my first race."

Pogachar was in great form to start 2022, winning the UAE Tour twice in a row to the delight of team management and sponsors. He then won the Strade Bianche in a long solo attack, Tirreno-Adriatico, and finished fifth in Milano-San Remo and fourth in the Tour of Flanders.

A return to the gravel roads of Tuscany in 2023 is yet to be determined, with a Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico before Milan-San Remo and a trip to Belgium for the Doire de Flenderen and Tour de Flanders. The Ardennes Classics should once again be his final goal for the spring before he rests and prepares for the Tour de France.

UAE Team Emirates has signed Adam Yates and Jay Vine, who will share team leadership with Pogachar, Joao Almeida, Juan Ayuso, and Brandon McNulty.

"I thought I'd mix it up a bit," Pogachar said of his debut in Spain. [Jaen and Andalusia are really interesting and harder than the UAE tour. Maybe it's good to go step by step into the new season."

"It's still a long way to the Tour, but we know it will be much shorter.

"We have started training and planning and are confident that everything will be in place by the Tour. Hopefully everything will be 100%."