Clásica San Sebastián 2018 [FULL RACE]

August 4, 2018

Clásica San Sebastián 2018 – San Sebastian – San Sebastian : 228,7 km

The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a cycle race that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián, Spain. Clásica de San Sebastián is known for its winding, undulating terrain which favours aggressive riding. The current race route is approximately 220 kilometres in length and includes the tough Alto de Jaizkibel climb at around the 200 kilometre mark. This is usually the decisive point of the race. It was a round of the UCI Road World Cup (which ran from 1989 to 2004) and has since been part of its successors, the UCI ProTour and since 2011 the UCI World Tour.

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) carried his superb Tour de France form into this weekend, winning the San Sebastian Classic after a two-up sprint with Bauke Mollema (Trek Segafredo). The pair escaped on the final climb of the race and were never in danger of being caught by a chase group that contained many of the other pre-race favourites.

Alaphilippe and Mollema established a 30-second lead inside the final 8km of racing and the Frenchman controlled the sprint from start to finish, with Mollema forced to settle for second. Anthony Roux (FDJ) finished third.

The race was overshadowed by a crash with just under 20km remaining. Both Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Mikel Landa (Team Movistar) were placed in neck-braces and taken to hospital.

For Alaphilippe the win cemented his ever-growing reputation as one of cycling’s most multi-talented riders. The Frenchman won two stages and the king of the mountains jersey at the Tour de France, and can came into San Sebastian as a leading contender.

“I knew that the race suited my characteristics, but I honestly didn’t expect to win today,” Alaphilippe said. “I didn’t feel very good, as I was tired after a long and hard Tour de France, but stayed focused in the final and made my effort at the right time, using the last climb as launch pad.

“I want to say a big thank you to my teammates, who protected and helped me throughout the day, believing in my chances. I am very happy after this win, because San Sebastian is a special race which I like a lot and it means a lot to conclude this part of the season with another beautiful victory.”

The race effectively came down to a battle on the final climb after several early breaks were neutralised thanks to work from BMC Racing, Astana, Trek Segafredo and Bahrain Merida. The penultimate ascent of the Arkale softened up the remnants of the main bunch but it was Mollema – a previous winner – and his Trek teammates who took control on the final climb of Murgil Tontorra. The Dutchman’s team thinned out the bunch to less than 20 riders before Astana moved to the front.

However, it was LottoNL Jumbo’s talented young climber Antwan Tolhoek who created the first significant split with Rudy Mollard the only rider able to match the young Dutchman as the road began to rise to over 15 per cent.

Bahrain Merida looked to bring the pair back but with the leaders in sight, Mollema made his attack and quickly moved into the race lead. Just as the Dutchman looked to be in ascendancy Alaphilippe made contact, with a trailing Van Amermaet and the rest of the bunch unable to respond.

“I felt good,” Mollema said. “But then on the top Alaphilippe was with me. We worked well together – it was one kilometer flat at the top, so we went pretty fast there and had a big gap already. And then we went down also fast and then it was just the two of us, but you know he is also fast in the sprint. I tried to hang on a bit and let him do the work the last 2kms especially, but still, he was faster than me.”

The leading duo established a 15-second lead at the top of the climb and that soon doubled thanks to their combined efforts on the descent, and a lack of collaboration from the chasers. With the line in view, Alaphilippe moved to the front before using his convincing sprint to take another impressive win.

Results :
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 6:03:45
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
3 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:16
4 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
5 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
6 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
7 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
8 Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
9 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
10 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
11 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:20
12 Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:43
13 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:48
14 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:00:49
15 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:51
16 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
17 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
18 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
19 James Knox (GBr) Quick-Step Floors
20 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
22 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
23 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
24 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:52
25 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
26 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:13
27 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
28 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
29 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
30 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
31 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:40
32 Jay McCarthy (Aus) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:22
33 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
34 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
35 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
36 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
37 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
38 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
39 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
40 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
41 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
42 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:32
43 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
44 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
45 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
46 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
47 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos BH 0:04:24
48 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
49 Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Quick-Step Floors 0:04:26
50 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:49
51 David De La Cruz (Spa) Team Sky
52 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
53 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Movistar Team
54 Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon 0:05:21
55 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:05:47
56 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
57 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:06:43
58 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:06:55
59 Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
60 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:07:54
61 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
62 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
63 Benjamin King (USA) Dimension Data 0:08:37
64 Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin
65 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
66 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
67 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:09:21
68 Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spa) Burgos BH
69 Sergio Rodriguez Reche (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
70 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
71 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Katusha-Alpecin
72 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
74 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:10:15
75 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:10:29
76 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
77 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
78 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Floors
79 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
80 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:35
81 Pablo Torres Muiño (Spa) Burgos BH 0:13:31
82 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky
DNF Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
DNF Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
DNF David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Team Sky
DNF Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
DNF Manuele Boaro (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team
DNF Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
DNF Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
DNF Loïc Vliegen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
DNF Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos BH
DNF José Mendes (Por) Burgos BH
DNF Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos BH
DNF Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Nelson Andres Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
DNF Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
DNF Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
DNF Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
DNF Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb
DNF Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
DNF Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb
DNF Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates