Pidcock arrives too late in Spanish gravel thriller as Wellens pulls off “Pogačar-style” win

Clásica Jaén has quickly become one of the most eye-catching early-season one-day races. The gravel roads in Andalusia deliver fireworks almost every year — and when rain turns them muddy, it usually gets even better. With riders such as Pidcock, Wellens, and Maxim Van Gils on the start line, the Spanish race once again had a strong field.

Wrapped up against the cold, the peloton rolled out at around 1:30pm local time. The opening phase was nervous and fast, but no one could really get away. Only after more than 60 kilometres did Quinten Hermans (Pinarello Q36.5) and Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) manage to break clear, and they were soon joined by around ten more riders.

The break did not last long. Exactly halfway, everything came back together — and that was when the race truly exploded, with the first gravel sector of the day. A large front group formed immediately, containing virtually all the favourites… except Pidcock. From that front group, Wellens and Mark Donovan (Pinarello Q36.5) rode away.

With just over 60 kilometres remaining, it was Donovan who surprisingly managed to shake Wellens at the front, while Soudal Quick-Step had missed the split and were dragging hard at the head of the peloton. Not long afterwards, the UAE rider clawed his way back onto Donovan’s wheel.

Wellens had clearly recovered and immediately went straight past the Brit. With 54 kilometres still to race, the Belgian champion set off alone. Behind him, a number of chasers regrouped, including Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious). UAE were well represented with Marc Soler and Benoît Cosnefroy, but they logically did not contribute to the chase.

Pidcock was still in a group further back, and that group quickly found itself around a minute down on Wellens. Pinarello Q36.5 then helped bring that gap down, turning it into Wellens versus the rest — roughly 40 riders. Even on his own, the Belgian champion managed to keep his advantage hovering around 1 minute 20 seconds for a long time.

The gravel sectors did not get any easier as the race moved towards the finish. Because many of them were so narrow, Wellens seemed to lose very little time there. On a steep sector, however, the chasing group did split apart, with Pidcock, teammate Hermans, Gianni Vermeersch (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) and Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates–XRG) going on the counterattack.

More riders soon bridged across, and the gap to Wellens began to drop towards a minute. With around 30 kilometres to go, the Belgian still looked to have the best cards — especially because UAE had everything under control, with four riders sitting in the chasing group.

An acceleration by Pidcock with 15 kilometres to go briefly pushed Wellens’ lead under a minute again, after which Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) tried to force the issue. Once more, nobody managed to get away — largely thanks to UAE’s excellent control.

Even the Mar de Olivos sector — where Wellens had earlier been dropped by Donovan — did not seem to trouble the Belgian too much. But a late push from Van Gils, Pidcock and Christen made the advantage shrink quickly. With five kilometres left, Wellens suddenly had only about half a minute.

With climbing still to come, it became a real nail-biter. The trio — with Christen able to sit in and follow wheels — took seconds back steadily, but Wellens managed to hold on with a final, all-out effort. Behind him, Pidcock finished second ahead of Christen in third. Van Gils crashed heavily in the sprint for the minor places.