Spanish champion Lazkano wins in front of home crowd in Jaén Paraiso: "Trusted that I was in the right breakaway"

Oier Lazkano won the third edition of the Clasica Jaén Paraiso on Monday afternoon. The Spanish champion (Movistar) was the strongest in the breakaway after a chaotic edition plagued by numerous flat tires, including one for Wout van Aert. The Frenchman Bastien Tronchon finished second, with Jan Tratnik from Visma | Lease a Bike coming in third.

The start of the race was immediately chaotic, as numerous riders saw opportunities in the day's breakaway. Now and then, Vuelta winner Sepp Kuss and Marc Soler would attack, at other times we saw Tim Wellens, Ben Turner (second last year) and Visma | Lease a Bike rider Jan Tratnik and Per Strand Hagenes. Both UAE Team Emirates and the Dutch team of Van Aert tried to get their man in front, but in the end, only Tadej Pogacar's team succeeded.

Lazkano hopes it will get easier

"I feel good, happy, but also tired," Lazkano said in the flash interview. "There were many groups in the beginning. I trusted that I was in the right breakaway because there were many strong men with me. I'm glad I could win this way. My first victory of the year feels really good because I've worked hard the past few months. It was already fantastic to win in the Tour of Burgos as the national champion. The race was really tough, hopefully it will be a bit easier at least a few times."

The Spanish champion tried multiple times to break away from his companion Nicolas Prodhomme, but the resilient Frenchman managed to catch up each time. At a moment when Lazkano was on the verge of breaking, he bravely accelerated and definitively dropped Prodhomme. With ten kilometers to go until the finish line, his lead over the chasing group had dwindled to forty seconds, but he held on.