Preview: Clásica San Sebastian 2024 – Jonas Vingegaard returns, what can Maxim van Gils do?

The black hole didn’t last long after the Olympics. Good thing too! This weekend, it’s time for another top-level competition, the Clásica San Sebastian. The Spanish one-day race has been revamped, and it remains to be seen whether that will affect the race course. Cycling Looking forward!

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Evenepoel was the big man in last year’s San Sebastian Clasica – Photo: Cor Vos

Clasica San Sebastian 2023 Result
1. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick Step)
2. Bello Bilbao (victorious Bahrain) in Sh
3. Alexander Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) 28 seconds
4. Nelson Powles (EF Education-EasyPost) in 2 minutes and 50 seconds
5. Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis) 2min 57sec

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The route of the Clásica San Sebastian has changed somewhat this year. The start and finish are of course still in San Sebastian, what else would you think? They won’t change that, but a lot has changed for the rest. After the start, the climb follows after 20 kilometres Andazarate (5.9 km, 5.7%).

After a long descent and some ascent here and there, a new climb follows after 80 kilometers. Three climbs will follow each other relatively quickly. It’s about Remembrances (4.2 km, 7.3%) My hips (8.6 km, 6.9%) and The cheese (4.4 km at 6.2%). The Urraki climb is sure to leave you in stitches. At the beginning of this climb you have to cover a kilometer at about 10%.

The three climbs will serve as a kind of warm-up for the final, as they will come very quickly afterwards. After 20 kilometres on undulating roads, the riders reach the foot of the mountain. Gizkibel (7.9 km, 5.6%). In the past, the gizkibel was an important referee in this match. Nowadays this is no longer the case, because the climb is too far from the finish. This year, the organization has moved the climb a little closer to the finish.

After Jaizkibel, it’s time for a steep descent. Earlights (3.8 to 10.6%). The summit of the climb is about forty kilometers from the finish, which is the perfect moment to shake the tree. With a long descent, the riders prepare for the final climb. Belotegi (2 km at 11.7%). A new climb on the course, and what a climb it is. With a steep and strange average gradient and at one point a 27% section (!) the decision will be made here. After the summit, there are another ten kilometers to the finish.

Saturday 10 August: San Sebastian – San Sebastian (236 km)
He goes: 10.55 am
Ends: Between 4:40pm and 5:10pm

Favorites

Remco Evenepoel has won the Clásica San Sebastian three times, but he won’t be starting this year. The newly crowned Olympic champion is ready for some rest and will prepare for the World Championships in Zurich. Julian Alaphilippe and mikel landaHowever, Soudal Quick Step still has a strong spearhead. Alaphilippe won a stage in the Czech Tour and has been in great form, and Landa has been brilliant again in the Tour de France. If the favourites look each other in the eye and wait for the final climb, Alaphilippe could be the more dangerous prospect.

Will Alaphilippe give it his all again? – Photo: Cor Vos

The big teams almost always have many competitors to win. In the UAE, for example, they can target Mark HersheyPavel Sivakov and Isaac del Toro. Hirschi seems to be the leader, and the Swiss are in top form. He won the Czech round convincingly and also played an important role in Paris. Hirschi has won several times in recent seasons, but a really big victory is no longer possible.

Santiago Buitrago Team Bahrain should help Victorious to put on a great performance. The lightweight can win in many ways, and that is certainly to his advantage. The Colombian is making his fourth appearance in San Sebastian and has never been convincing. The new route, with the tougher climb to the final, is certainly in his favour. Can he surprise?

Hershey has impressed in recent weeks, but always in a less strong field of competitors – Photo: Cor Voss

Lotto Dstny also hopes the duo will be Maxim van Gils Andreas Krohn will be able to create something. It’s a nice duo, but all the good performances this season have come from Van Gils. The young Belgian had an excellent spring full of places of honour. Van Gils didn’t get the spotlight on the Tour and eventually gave up on stage 16. Simon Yates He finished the round. And how. The British player from Jayco AlUla put in a very strong performance last week, but missed out on victory twice by narrow margins.

The last team we will discuss is Visma | Rent a Bike. The Dutch WorldTour team has many riders who have a chance to win. There are real climbers like Sepp Kuss and the number two in the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard,who they say has recovered well. “I recharged the battery and then started training again. It all went well. At the moment I feel fresh again and ready to start the next matches. Promising words.

Van Gils did not race again after the round – Photo: Cor Vos

As always, there are plenty of outsiders to win. Just think of people like Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Alex Aranburu (Movistar), Ion Izaguirre (Cofidis), Axel Lawrence (Alpecin-Deceunick), Steve Krass (TotalEnergies), Jonathan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers), Tobias Haaland Johansson (Uno-X Mobility), Brandon McNulty (UAE), Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), Nelson Pauwels (EF Education-EasyPost), Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) and romain bardet (DSM-certified PostNL).

Favorites by WielerFlits
****Mark Hershey
*** Julian Alaphilippe, Jonas Vingegaard
** Maxim van Gils, Mikel Landa, Santiago Buitrago
* Simon Yates, Brandon McNulty, Jonathan Narvaez, Romain Bardet

Site organization
List of participants (flash cycling)

Weather and TV

It will be a warm day in the Basque Country on Saturday. According to Weatheronline The temperatures will be close to 30 degrees Celsius, which is especially warm. There will be no strong winds or rain, and there will be no clouds. Sun, sun, sun!

The Clasica San Sebastian match will of course be broadcast live on TV. Switch to Eurosport 1, HBO Max, Discovery+ or Sporza to stream. See all the TV channels and exact broadcast times in our Cycling TV guide.