Lutsenko prevails on the gravel in Clásica Jaén

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Alexey Lutsenko used his power and aggression to dominate the inaugural edition of the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior race, the new Spanish one-day race that included 40km of gravel country roads through the olive groves of Andalucia.

Lutsenko forced a split in the peloton with 50km to go on the third of seven long gravel sectors. He then attacked again with 28km to go, distancing a small group of riders and leaving them to fight for the placings.

The Astana Qazaqstan rider opened a gap of a minute and never looked back, powering over the dirt roads and on the cobbled streets to the finish line.

Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) finished 53 seconds behind Lutsenko, with

Loïc Vliegen (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) taking third three seconds further back. Former British national champion Connor Swift (Arkea-Samsic) finished fourth at 1:28. 

Lutsenko made his season debut at the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior race but will continue racing at this week’s Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol. He was awarded a huge golden olive trophy for winning the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior race. It was his 30th career victory.

“I’m really happy to start my season here with a win. It’s good for my morale and for my team. It’s a hard race but a lovely race,” Lutsenko said on the podium.

How it unfolded

The 187.8km race was always going to be a hard and selective one, with three sectors of gravel and some steep climbs in the opening 65km, followed by a valley road and then a long gravel climb up to Ubeda and a 20km loop that was covered four times.

Diego Alba (Drone Hopper–Androni), the USA’s Chad Haga (Human Powered Health), Jenno Berckmoes (Sport Vlaanderen–Baloise), Igor Arrieta, Raul Garcia (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) formed the early break over the first section of gravel, as a crash saw several of Lutsenko’s Astana Qazaqstan go down.

The break opened a gap of 2:00 but the Lotto Soudal team kept them under control on the valley road and reduced their lead to a minute as the finishing circuit began.

Arrieta tried to fight on alone but was soon caught and passed as the race exploded on the long, gravel climbs.

Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi) kicked things off but then Wellens, Lennard Kamna and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) made a move. Lutsenko decided it was time to go on the attack and blew the race apart with 50km to go.

Back on asphalt roads, Vliegen, Wellens, Kamna, Swift and  Thibaut Ferasse (B&B Hotels–KTM) formed a chase group and Lutsenko wisely eased up. However when the Bayyasa gravel section up to the finish began again, the Kazakhstani rider powered away again, sure of his superiority.

He soon carved out a lead of a minute, ensuring the support from his Astana Qazaqstan team car and never looked back. He struggled on the steep ramp up to Ubeda but was in total control as the chasers began to think about the race for the podium placings.

Wellens and Vliegen emerged the best of the rest on the climb to the finish with Wellens edging ahead to take second place. The rest of the field came home individually or in small groups, tired from the hard racing but fascinated by the latest race to include gravel roads, this time through the olives groves of southern Spain.