2w ago

Race thread: 🇪🇸 San Sebastian classic, Aug 2 (+ Getxo, Aug 3)

klasikoa.eus

Clásica San Sebastián 2025 — Official Website

Last winners:

Powless🇺🇸*before Mohoritch in 2021,
Evenepoel🇧🇪*before Sivakov,
Evenepoel🇧🇪*before Bilbao,
Hirschi🇨🇭*before Alaphilippe in 2024.

Evenepoel was expected to run for a 4^th victory, but his presence was cancelled.

Final part:

7 comments

In my opinion, Christen's (🇨🇭 UAE) immediate attack when he joined Del Toro (🇲🇽 UAE) and Ciccone (🇮🇹 Lidl-Trek) caused the loss of the race for UAE. If he hadn't, Ciccone🇮🇹*wouldn't have attacked so soon, UAE would have enjoyed a 2 vs 1 longer, Ciccone🇮🇹*would have made a narrower gap or not gap at all over Christen🇨🇭* and Del Toro🇲🇽*wouldn't have been pushed so far, so Christen🇨🇭*could have stayed in the wheels of Ciccone🇮🇹*until the end.
- I was wondering what your opinion was on that race. Both UAE riders seemed quite strong on the day yet Ciccone won relatively easily in the end. In fact, the commentator on the stream I was watching said with about 40 km to go something like "no one else other than Del Toro is winning today" because he and UAE were looking so strong at that stage.
  
  I am not in a good position to emit a strong or detailed opinion, as I was switching between San Sebastian and the women Tour de France 😀 (and as San Sebastian was on Max and not on a regular TV channel, which makes switching between both slow and convoluted, I wasn't switching often).
  Yeah, I heard and read the same about the sure win for Del Toro in my country, I reckon. UAE riders scared everyone 😀, especially before Ayuso was unexpectedly dropped. Then Bora and UAE looked almost equally strong. And then the Bora riders disappeared one after the other. And Del Toro looked damn easy. And then Christen coming back too gave the impression they would crunch the only opponent remaining. So, yeah, on the sections I saw, there were many signs that they would easily win. Yet...
  I haven't watched Getxo yet (I may do it tonight or tomorrow), just had a glimpse of the situation 80 or 90 km from the finish line: the whole UAE team was leading the bunch (chasing a breakaway) and putting it in line. They are terrorising .1 races now... 😬
And on Sunday, the little brother of the Classica where we usually find most of the same riders who rode the Classica on Saturday: the Circuit of Getxo.
Official site: https://www.circuitodegetxo.com/
PCS page: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/circuito-de-getxo/2025
It will be officially streamed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/live/gHgoiPux9po
- Q. Simmons (always impressive but always a bit short) animated a small breakaway (Aular stayed with him the longest) for 35 km, joining the early breakaway after a move initiated by a Caja Rural, and dropping it; before the final peloton acceleration and Ayuso lauching Del Toro 18 km from the line. Cofidis had great hopes for Aranburu, so they had helped UAE chasing the breakaways. After Del Toro's attack, Aranburu tried to follow but never actually managed, his tiny group (of 4?) never managed to catch the lone Del Toro up; he was beaten by Ayuso on the final sprint on the little hill.
  A rather suspenseful (Del Toro never really got much more than 20 seconds over his chasers) and relatively hectic race, as usual there. There is always a balance between climbs, wide roads, and a final climb much smaller than the other ones, which causes good fights between the breakaway(s) and the peloton and then between smaller groups, and makes the victory uncertain until the last minute (well, this time, being solo, Del Toro would have needed to fail badly in the last climb, but that's something that may happen).
  In a way, it reminds me of the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche in the beginning of the season. Ayuso had lost the first race, Ardèche (because of following a bad direction in the last km), but on the next day UAE and he left no chance to their opponents in the Drôme race, as he won after a 40 km solo.

7 comments