Vuelta a Andalucía stage 1 live - Pogacar solos to victory

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 1 of the Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta del Sol!

We're just under 10 minutes away from the start of the 2023 Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta del Sol. The riders are faced with 178.9km from Puente de Génave to Santiago de la Espada and over 4000 metres of elevation gain.

Tadej Pogačar is at the start line as he looks to continue his flying start to the season. He blew the opposition out of the water with a 36km solo attack to win the Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior on Monday.

Today's stage has five categorised climbs in store for the riders. The hardest three category one climbs will be crested in the final 95km - Puerto de Navalperal (8.1km at 6.9%), Garganta de Hornos (15.4km at 4.7%) and Despiernacaballos (9.7km at 6%).

As the flag drops and the racing gets underway, take a look at our coverage for the whole of the 2023 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol.

Multiple riders have attempted attacks to try and form an early breakaway in the first 6km but so far the peloton has worked to neutralise them.

Aaron Van Poucke (Team Flanders - Baloise), Clément Alleno (Burgos-BH) and Alex Martin (EOLO-Kometa) have managed to jump away from the peloton and the bunch is allowing them to gain a gap.

165km to go

Gotzon Martín (Euskaltel - Euskadi) has joined the leaders to form a group of four. Today is the Basque rider's 27th birthday.

Group 1 reaches the first climb of the day - Alto Collado de los Yesos (4.7km at 5.8) with an advantage of over 2 minutes on the peloton.

The breakaway crest the top of the first climb of the day with a 2'45" advantage on the peloton.

Martin (EOLO-Kometa) takes the first three KOM points of the stage ahead of Alleno (Burgos-BH) in second and Martín (Euskaltel - Euskadi) in third.

146km to go

Nearly an hour into racing the front group hit the foot of the second climb of the day - the Alto de Onsares (4.7km at 5.4%). The same four riders had a 2'40" advantage at the last time check.

Van Poucke wins the first intermediate sprint of the day at Villarrodrigo ahead of Alleno in second and Martin in third.

The Ineos Grenadiers come to the Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta del Sol with strong general classification ambitions in Tao Geoghegan Hart, Carlos Rodriguez and Pavel Sivakov but are are without Egan Bernal who is still recovering from a knee injury. 

Outside of Rodriguez, the other Spanish riders that will likely challenge Pogačar for the general classification on the five hilly stages are Enric Mas (Movistar) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious).

The results from the first KOM points are the flipped on their head with Martín taking the 3 points ahead of Alleno in second and Martin in third. The outcome is a triple tie in the virtual mountain classification with all three riders on four points. 

Martín finished 31st in Monday's Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior.

117km to go

The breakaway are now under 20km from the foot of the first testing climb of the day - Puerto de Navalperal (8.1km at 6.9%). The harshest gradients are hit in the first half of the climb with it easing off towards the crest.

The updated time gap to the leaders is now only 2 minutes with UAE Team Emirates and Movistar pulling in the bunch. Gotzon Martín is the virtual leader of the general and the mountains classifications as it stands with 105km to go.

After two hours of racing at an average speed of 36.2km/h, the break has now reached the foot of the Puerto de Navalperal (8.1km at 6.9%), the first of three category one climbs. 

100km to go

The gap to the break is back up to 2'40".

The lead group's gap is holding as they approach the easier section of the climb. They are now under 2km to the summit. 

None of the riders in the break have taken a pro win yet in their career. Clément Alleno (Burgos-BH) came close recently with a 3rd place finish in stage 6 of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in January behind Karl Patrick Lauk (Bingoal WB) and Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies).

As the peloton crest the Puerto de Navalperal the gap to the break has reduced to 2'20".

Martín takes the lead of the mountains classification by securing all 10 points ahead of Martin in second and Alleno in third. Movistar and UAE are still driving things on the front with Iván García Cortina (Movistar) and Sjoerd Bax (UAE Team Emirates) picking up the final few mountains points. 

As it stands Martín (Euskaltel - Euskadi) leads from Martin (EOLO-Kometa) by two points in the mountains standings but with two category one climbs left for the riders to tackle it is far from decided who will will wear the jersey on the podium.

81km to go

The breakaway's lead over the peloton is down to just 2 minutes.

The riders still have an intermediate sprint to content with and 25.1km of categorised climbs before they reach the 7km run into the finish at Santiago de la Espada.

70km to go

The gap remains stable at 2'.

Movistar are driving things on the front in the peloton.

After three hours of racing we still have the same four riders out in front - Aaron Van Poucke (Team Flanders - Baloise), Clément Alleno (Burgos-BH), Alex Martin (EOLO-Kometa) and Gotzon Martín (Euskaltel - Euskadi).

Teams are anticipating a showdown on the final climb of the day - Despiernacaballos (9.7km at 6%).

Van Poucke crashed but was able to find his way back to the other leaders without much issue.

Stage 1 of last year's Ruta del Sol was won by Van Poucke's former team mate Rune Herregodts who now rides for Intermarché - Circus - Wanty.

55km to go

UAE Team Emirates and Movistar still controlling the gap to the break - it has stabilised around 2'.

The break is approaching the second category one climb, Garganta de Hornos (15.4km at 4.7%).

Attack Ineos Grenadiers! Omar Fraile takes his chance to ride away of the front.

Frenchman Alleno (Burgos-BH) is dropped from the breakaway.

Van Poucke takes the second of two intermediate sprint points confirming he will be in the blue jersey come the end of the day. He sits up immediately after. 

50km to go

Former Spanish national champion Fraile catches and drops Van Poucke as riders start to struggle in the peloton. 

The two riders left out front are Gotzon Martín (Euskaltel - Euskadi) and Alex Martin (EOLO-Kometa) who are separated in the virtual mountains classification by only two points. 

Omar Fraile makes contact with the leading duo and goes immediately to the front to put the pressure on. 

48km to go

Alessandro Covi is working on the front of the peloton for UAE Team Emirates.

Fraile, Martin and Martín still have 5km left to the top of the climb.

The breakaway's gap has dipped to 0'46" with Movistar and UAE Team Emirates still swapping turns in the peloton. 

Aimé de Gendt (Intermarché - Circus - Wanty) and Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH) have lost contact with the main peloton. 

Two Equipo Kern Pharma riders have had to abandon the race with physical problems - Raúl García Pierna and Álex Jaime.

Gotzon Martín kicks away from Fraile and Martin to take another 10 KOM points and with Fraile taking second Martín now leads Martin by 6 points in pursuit of the mountains jersey. 

36km to go

Both the front group of three and peloton are now on the descent towards the final climb of the day - Despiernacaballos (9.7km at 6%). Fraile is on the front for the breakaway. 

The gap from the leaders to the peloton is now closer to 30 seconds.

The final climb's average gradient doesn't paint the whole picture as the first 7.5km actually average 7% with a false flat section towards the top. 

27km to go

Both Gotzon Martín and Alex Martin have been out in the breakaway for four hours. 

The bunch is closing in on the front three with Movistar still driving things in the peloton. Martin is the first to be absorbed with Martín and Fraile still hanging off the front.

The catch is about to be made with the gap now under 10 seconds. 

21km to go

Everything comes back together in the peloton now four kilometres from the base of the categorised section of Despiernacaballos (9.7km at 6%).

17km to go

No action yet from the main group as they await the climb proper. The UAE Team Emirates train is now on the front. Pogačar is looking ominous with four team mates sat in front of him.

Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) has abandoned the race due to sickness. 

15km to go

The group is thinning down significantly with UAE Team Emirates still pushing the pace through Tim Wellens. 

Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) had a small mechanical problem and appeared to be stuck in much too big a gear. He seems to have fixed it and is on his way back up the peloton. 

Wellens drifts slightly away from the front of the group with his own teammates perhaps under pressure. Still 7km till the top of the climb. 

13km to go

Majka and Wellens have now swapped positions with the Polish rider coming to the front. Mas is now all alone in the front group without any teammates. 

Majka finishes his turn and Wellens puts in a serious tempo which breaks the group apart. 

Pogačar makes his move! It's a blistering attack at the front.

Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) is the only rider able to follow the Slovenian. It was an obvious attack but no one except for the Colombian had enough to respond. 

Pogačar puts in a second dig after Buitrago fails to respond to an elbow flick and rides away from the young Colombian. He is now solo with four kilometres left of the climb to ride. 

The Spanish trio of Mas, Rodríguez and Landa are in pursuit and will soon join with Buitrago who looks to have paid for the effort put in to follow Pogačar. 

Pogačar has got his 2023 season off to a flyer and he looks as dominant as ever even just two race days in. 

10km to go

The current gap from Pogačar to group 2 is currently 0'38" with Rodríguez now on the front. 

Enric Mas (Movistar) has a mechanical issue in a terrible section of the climb. He got out of the saddle and instantly had a problem. He has lost contact with group 2.

7km to go

Mas has fallen into the third group on the road which sit over a minute back on Pogačar. It contains Geoghegan Hart, Haig, Caruso and three UAE Team Emirates riders. 

The gap from the two-time Tour de France winner to the chasers is now 0'44".

5km to go

Pogačar is extending his gap on the descent into the finish at Santiago de la Espada.

2km to go

Landa, Buitrago and Rodríguez are going visibly slower than Pogačar out in front who is emptying the tank in the run to the line. 

1km to go

It's going to be two from two for Pogačar as he goes under the flamme rouge and attacks the final uphill kilometre. He is sending out a clear message to everyone in the world. 

Tadej Pogačar wins stage 1 of the Vuelta a Andalucía Ruta del Sol in emphatic fashion and he raises his arms as he crosses the finish line. 

Mikel Landa finishes second with Carlos Rodríguez in third. Both them and Buitrago will be 38 seconds in arrears at the start of the second stage tomorrow. 

Pogačar celebrates his second win of the season.

It was a full 38 seconds before Landa, Rodríguez, and Buitrago crossed the line. That was more or less the same gap Pogačar had at the top of the climb.

The Slovenian now has two wins from two to open his season, the first time he's ever done so in his first two race days. Here's what he had to say after the finish...

"Today once again the teamwork was great, we did a nice job and our guys led me to the last climb at a very very high pace which I really liked," Pogačar said later.

"The climb was steep, I saw the moment to attack and I enjoyed the path to the finish. I am a little surprised by my form, I knew that I was good but I could not expect to have already won two races.

"For what concerns the leadership in the general classification of the Vuelta Andalucía, it's going to be really difficult to defend the leader's jersey until the end because there will be some tricky stages, but I will be able to rely on such a strong team that makes me confident I can reach this goal."

Our report for the opening stage is up now. Check it out here

As his team, UAE Team Emirates, note, this is their third win in the past three days.

Of course, Pogačar won in Jaén, and yesterday Diego Ulissi took the victory on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Oman.

This is the squad's fifth win of 2023.

Pogačar takes to the podium for the first leader's jersey of the race.

Here's a shot of the chase group rolling home, led by Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious).

Over the border in Portugal, the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve has just drawn to a close. It came down to a bunch sprint in Lagos.

Check out the results here

A look at Pogačar crossing the line earlier today.

We'll have news coming in from Patrick Fletcher on the ground in Algarve as well as the latest from Andalucía. That's all for our live coverage of today's stage, though.

Check back tomorrow for more live action in Spain.