The World Champion joined Marino Lejaretta as the only riders with a hat-trick of wins at the prestigious World Tour race.
Remco Evenepoel kicked off his second half of the season in style, triumphing at the Clasica San Sebastian for the third time in three starts – a success that came just one week before Glasgow, where he’ll try to defend his rainbow jersey. It was Soudal Quick-Step’s sixth victory in Donostia, a performance not reached by any other team in the event’s 42-year history.
The World Champion made his move incredibly early, with a stunning 73 kilometers to go, on the Erlaitz climb. After his teammates applied pressure on the peloton while keeping the escapees’ gap in check, Remco accelerated and took with him just a handful of riders, together with whom he bridged across to the survivors of the breakaway. On Mendizorrotz, the penultimate ascent of the day, the Belgian increased the tempo and slimmed down the group to just three men.
Having only Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe) for company, Evenepoel continued to take some really long pulls at the front, and the group started the frightening Murgil-Tontorra (2.1km, 10.1%) with a three-minute lead. One kilometer from the top, the 23-year-old upped the pace again and dropped Vlasov, making sure he would arrive on the famous Boulevard just with Bilbao.
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Ignoring the stunning beauty of a packed but serene La Concha as he passed by it, Remco focused on his sprint, getting out of the Basque’s wheel with 200 meters to go and launching a tremendous acceleration which netted him his ninth victory since becoming World Champion last season in Australia and his third in Donostia, a feat not seen since the days of Marino Lejarreta, back in the ‘80s.
“My team did a great job to keep everything under control and make the race hard, so with around 70 kilometers remaining I decided to go, even though that wasn’t the original plan. As I got a gap, I wanted to see if I could take some guys with me. I wanted an open race, and we got one, with a strong group in the front, where we worked well together. With each kilometer, we added to our gap and became more confident in our chances.”
“As you could see, a selection was made, and in the end, it was just Pello and myself arriving together on the Boulevard. I was confident in my sprint, I knew that I improved it especially after a hard race, and felt that I had the power needed to make the difference. Winning San Sebastian it’s just beautiful, I love this race and I’m happy I could tie the great Marino Lejaretta for the number of victories here. It’s a solid success that boosts my morale ahead of next week’s World Championships”, said Remco – the first reigning World Champion to take the glory in San Sebastian – after his 46th pro win.
Photo credit: ©Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno / Getty Images
