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2022 Clásica de San Sebastián (World Tour), Spain

41st edition: Saturday, July 30, 2022

Classica San Sebastian podium history | 2021 edition | 2023 edition | Race map & profile | Race photos

Donostia - Donostia (Basque for the city of San Sebastián), 224.8 km

Remco Evenepoel wins in San Sebastian. Photo: Gonazalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

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Weather at start/finish city of San Sebastián at 1:20 PM, local time: 23C (74F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the northwest at 13 km/hr (8 mph). There is a 3% chance of rain.

The race course: Retired Basque racer Roberto Laiseka writes: The course for the 2022 Clásica is 224 km long. The first part of the event is to be run along the coast of Gipuzkoa and is mainly flat. This is good ground for breakaways, though it will be a hard struggle.

The second part of the race is mountainous, with the climbs to Jaizkibel (category 2) and Erlaitz (category 1). These two climbs will separate the wheat from the chaff and the strongest riders will set the pace for the rest of the race. The riders pass through the finish line on their way to the final climb to Murgil (category 2). This is a short climb, but it’s very steep inclines will put the pack to the test one last time. From the top, it is just 8 km to the finish, so it is important to finish the climb in a good position. The riders descend Igeldo and then go flat out for the line.”

The race: Here's the report from winner Remco Evenepoel's Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team.

Remco Evenepoel obliterated the field in a manner similar to the one of this spring, when he took a spectacular solo victory in Liège–Bastogne–Liège, this time powering to a staggering 33rd win in the pro ranks at a Clasica San Sebastian edition that will go down in history.

The Belgian made his move on the explosive slope of Erlaitz, after the ferocious pace set by his teammates on Jaizkibel softened the bunch and distanced many of the pre-race favourites. Unfettered by the double-digit gradients, Evenepoel rode everyone off his wheel and turned the last part of the race into a 45km individual time trial. At the top of the climb, the gap to the closest chaser sat at 20 seconds, but with every kilometer it continued to grow, and by the time he arrived in San Sebastian for the short finishing loop he had more than a minute on the five riders who were trying to claw back seconds.

Murgil Tontorra, the 2.1km hill where three years ago, in his neo-pro season, he made the race-winning move, was ridden flat out by Remco through a sea of Basque fans who made for an electric atmosphere as our rider widened his advantage considerably. A feverish crowd gave the 22-year-old a raucous cheer as he arrived on the iconic Boulevard, close to the scenic La Concha beach, where he celebrated his second victory in Clasica San Sebastian by a margin of 1:58, the largest in a World Tour one-day race since 2010.

“I came at the start fresh and motivated after a solid altitude training camp in Livigno and I am delighted with the way everything worked out.

"Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Clasica San Sebastian are my favourite one-day races out there, and to win them both in the same season is amazing”, said the first rider in eleven years to achieve this feat.

“The guys did an incredible job from the beginning of the day and I am grateful to them, it was thanks to their hard work that I could arrive on the Erlaitz with a lot of energy. All I had to do there was to go all-out, and that’s what I did. The gap was good, and I maintained the tempo after getting clear, although it wasn’t easy with the headwind. Then I rode full gas on Murgil Tontorra, before taking it a bit slow on the descent, knowing the two-minute advantage was enough. It was a perfect race for us and I am happy with my second txapela. I love racing here, the fans are fantastic and I can’t wait to return to the Basque Country when the Vuelta – where I’ll go with a good feeling, relaxed and confident after this win – visits it in a couple of weeks.”

Complete results:

Photos

224.8 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.659 km/hr

1	Remco Evenepoel	Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl	5hr 31min 44sec
2	Pavel Sivakov	INEOS Grenadiers	@ 1min 58sec
3	Tiesj Benoot	Jumbo-Visma	2:31
4	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	3:11
5	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
6	Simon Yates	BikeExchange-Jayco	3:28
7	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	4:09
8	Mattias Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
9	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
10	Lorenzo Rota	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
12	Rudy Molard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
13	George Bennett	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
14	Clement Berthet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
15	Stefan De Bod	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
16	Jonathan Lastra	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
17	Joel Nicolau	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
18	Guillaume Martin	Cofidis	s.t.
19	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	s.t.
20	Esteban Chaves	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
21	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
22	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
23	Domenico Pozzovivo	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
24	Chris Hamilton	Team DSM	s.t.
25	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
26	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
27	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	4:29
28	Jaakko Hänninen	Ag2r-Citroën	4:30
29	Gino Mäder	Bahrain Victorious	4:32
30	Gorka Izagirre	Movistar	4:54
31	Jan Bakelants	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
32	Alan Jousseaume	TotalEnergies	s.t.
33	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
34	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	s.t.
35	Brandon Rivera	INEOS Grenadiers	5:20
36	Wilco Kelderman	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
37	Jonathan Caicedo	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
38	Jose Manuel Diaz	Burgos-BH	5:34
39	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
40	Victor De La Parte	TotalEnergies	s.t.
41	Emanuel Buchmann	BORA-hansgrohe	5:36
42	Chris Harper	Jumbo-Visma	6:10
43	Davide Villella	Cofidis	s.t.
44	Rui Costa	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
45	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	9:00
46	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
47	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
48	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
49	Harry Sweeny	Lotto Soudal	9:43
50	Fausto Masnada	Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl	10:47
51	Antonio Angulo	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
52	Ander Okamika	Burgos-BH	12:10
53	Robert Gesink	Jumbo-Visma	s.t.
54	Vadim Pronskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
55	Tsgabu Grmay	BikeExchange-Jayco	s.t.
56	Hermann Pernsteiner	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
57	Tao Geoghegan Hart	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
58	Mikel Nieve	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	13:33
59	Adria Moreno Sala	Burgos-BH	13:41
60	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	13:48