Updated Saturday, 29 July 2023 – 17:08
The Soudal cyclist selected the race in a trio that Vlasov completed but only the Gernika rider held out until the sprint on the Boulevard
Remco Evenepoel surpasses Peio Bilbao in the sprint of the Clásica de San Sebastin.EFE
Remco Evenepoel signed his third victory in the San Sebastián Clásica, the race he “loves” although to equal Marino Lejarreta’s record he had to work hard until the end. The Belgian cyclist, world champion, has beaten Peio Bilbao in the final sprint, the only rider in the peloton capable of holding up to Evenepoel on the tough track of more than 230 kilometers that ended on the Boulevard in the Gipuzkoan capital.
Evenopoel has not managed to repeat the two getaways with which it surprised in 2019 and marveled in 2020 as its house brand in San Sebastian. In his race, where he feels the support of the public and knows he is a favourite, Evenepoel decided to make a selection from a heterogeneous bunch with dozens of cyclists with the best form of the Tour de France.
Evenepoel arrived in San Sebastián after competing in the Belgian championship and the Tour of Switzerland in June after abandoning the Giro d’Italia due to Covid when he was leading it. But the Soudal cyclist has once again demonstrated the balance between a preparation focused on the Tour of Spain on August 26 and the preliminary examination of the Glasgow World Cup where he aspires to repeat the World Championship.
Without the explosiveness of the two previous wins in San Sebastián, Evenopoel has generated a team with Peio Bilbao and Alexander Vlasov (Bora) who have faced the last 40 kilometers of the race as a group. But Vlasov has not managed to stay in the wheel of the Soudal cyclist in the second and last climb to Murgil, the 2.1 kilometer slope with a section at 19%. Bilbao, aware of the difficulties of the Russian rider, has come to pair up with Evenepoel in the last section of a climb full of fans.
“On the climb they encouraged Peio more than I loved”, Evenepoel acknowledged with a smile already at the finish line. The Belgian had already forgotten the discomfort in his wrist in a fall during the neutralized route that came to alarm the fans. Supporters who with their cheering cries redoubled the resistance of Peio Bilbao in Murgil to the pace of the climb up Evenepoel and opened the door to surprise during the last three kilometers of wandering along the bay of La Concha. But the classicman from Soudal, in the process of converting to a grand tour cyclist, has adjusted the boas of his white shoes to compete in a tense and long final sprint with a magnificent Bilbao. Vlasov, Powles and Ion Izagirre crossed the finish line ahead of the peloton.
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2023-07-29 15:08:33
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