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Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) secured his first win of the season after a solo breakaway at the gravel-heavy Clásica Jaén.
The Polish rider was part of an initial breakaway but made his winning move through the deep gravel sector inside the final 12km and crossed the line 26 seconds ahead of his nearest rival in Úbeda.
Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who initially formed part of a larger chase group behind Kwiatkowski, bridged across to a struggling Ibon Ruiz (Equipo Kern Pharma) with 4km remaining and then distanced the Spaniard to take second place on the day, 31 seconds down.
Ruiz had been in the breakaway for most of the race, and despite a hard-fought performance, was forced to settle for third place at 42 seconds behind the day’s winner.
“I always have to believe that winning is possible. The pace was pretty hard from the second sector and I didn’t expect that, but it was just a small group and we had a lot of support from my team, everyone was racing perfectly and we knew it well,” Kwiatkowski said after his win.
“I was going with the move with [Brandon] McNulty and get to the finish, so I’m proud of how we rode today. I want to dedicate this win to my family. It was a tough couple of months, so it is all for them.”
“[The win] means a lot. Last year, with my lower back injury, I didn’t race a lot and tried to get back. I started racing in…
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