Australian cycling sensation Caleb Ewan won his first race in Europe this year by claiming the Clasica de Almeria in a sprint finish.
The 23-year-old held off the challenge of Dutchman Danny van Popple and Belgian Timothy Dupont in the 185km one-day race.
The Mitchelton-Scott rider backed up a strong start to 2018, in which he won a stage at the Tour Down Under, with a powerful finish after the peloton chased down a breakaway group with 30km to go.
Re-united with his lead-out train, Ewan avoided crashes in the closing stages before launching from the wheel of Luka Mezgec to victory.
"It's really good to hit the ground running in my first European race and it was good to have the full lead-out squad behind me today," he said.
"We were all a bit lost after getting caught behind a crash but once we all got back together and started the lead-out, no-one came around us and I am happy I was able to finish it off."
Ewan's year will feature his much-anticipated Tour de France debut with his next competitive outing at the Abu Dhabi Tour from February 21.
"I haven't raced with these lead-out guys since the Tour of Britain so that's a fair chunk of time away," he said.
"It is good to get the confidence back in working together and that nothing has really changed, that is what we needed going into these next big races."
