Second race of the season, second victory! Tadej Pogacar has two days after his 43-kilometre solo in the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior one-day race also won the 1st stage of the Ruta del Sol.
Pogacar outpaces the competition on the Ruta del Sol
On the 179-kilometre section between Puente de Genave and Santiago de la Espada, the captain of UAE Team Emirates on the last climb of the day around twelve kilometres before the finish. Initially, the Colombian Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), but after a few hundred metres he too had to let the two-time Tour de France winner go.
Behind Pogacar a four-man chasing group formed, consisting of Buitrago, his team-mate Mikel Landa, Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Enric Mas (Movistar). The latter fell back with a defect around nine kilometres before the finish.
Pogacar pulls out a big lead over his rivals
Meanwhile, Pogacar extended his lead and also secured the last mountain classification of the day 7.4 kilometres before the finish, leaving nothing to chance on the final downhill section. Behind the Slovenian, Landa crossed the finish line of stage 1 of the Tour of Andalusia 2023 in second place, 38 seconds behind, followed by Rodriguez and Buitrago.
Ruta del Sol - Result 1st stage
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 5:04:08
- Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:38
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:38
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious +0:38
- Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:38
- Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:39
- Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:39
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +1:39
- Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) +1:39
- Jefferson Cepeda (Caja-Rural) +1:39
On Thursday, the 2nd stage will cover 156 kilometres from Diezma to Alcala la Real. The Tour of Andalusia ends on Sunday after five stages in Alhaurin de la Torre.
