2024 Clásica de San Sebastián - Donostia (World Tour), Spain

43rd edition: Saturday, August 10, 2024

Classica San Sebastian podium history | 2023 edition | Race map & profile | Photos | Start list

Donostia - Donostia (Basque for the city of San Sebastián), 236 km

Marc Hirschi beats Julian Alaphilippe. Sirotti photo

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Weather at start/finish city of San Sebastián at 1:55 PM, local time: 26C (79F), sunny, with the wind from the north at 11 km/hr (7 mph). There is just a 1% chance of rain.

The race course: The organizer writes: The route has changed again due to road disruptions and safety concerns. Riders must cover 236 km this year, 6 km more than last year, to clinch the txapela in Zurriola. The race will include 7 scoring mountain passes and a few surprises: Andazarate, Azkarate, Urraki, Alkiza, Jaizkibel, Erlaitz and Pilotegi. The latter is a new climb that will début at the Clásica, replacing Murgil. Pilotegi, with slopes of up to 27%, is even more demanding than Murgil or Bordako tontorra. This edition will include 2 intermediate sprints: one at the first finish line checkpoint, and the other at the reverse finish line checkpoint at 219.5 kilometers.

The race: Here's the report from second-place Julian Alaphilippe's Team Soudal Quick-Step.

Julian Alaphilippe came close to what would have been a second victory in Clasica San Sebastian, the only Spanish one-day race on the World Tour calendar, after a great day of racing. The two-time World Champion was arguably the main protagonist of the 236km race starting and finishing not far from the famous Concha beach, attacking relentlessly and showing great shape and determination as he tried to make the difference.

Simon Yates at the teams presentation ceremony. Photo: naikereo

Things exploded quite far from the finish, on the demanding Erlaitz, a climb where Julian put in a probing attack that ended up splitting the peloton. A more selective group formed before the top, and despite not having the numbers on the chasers, the sixteen men at the front managed to stay away by the time they got to the bottom of Pilotegi.

It's time to race. The peloton rides along the San Sebastián coast.

This excruciating ascent, making its first appearance on the Clasica San Sebastian parcours, was a brutal one, its two kilometers averaging almost 12%. But the toughest moment of the day came in the final 500 meters, when the riders hit the insane 27% slopes where Alaphilippe – who had attacked again just minutes before – put in another massive acceleration and landed an important blow.

The peloton racing along the coast midway into the race. Photo: naikereo

Only Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) was able to take his wheel and the two barrelled down the technical descent that took them onto the Boulevard, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. Julian spared no effort, taking some long and strong turns at the front to ensure a gap of more than ten seconds on the chasers entering the last kilometer, and made sure to carefully bide his time on the finishing straight, knowing the headwind would play a role there. His strong sprint, launched just 150 meters from the line, earned the Frenchman runner-up, making it six consecutive editions with a Soudal Quick-Step rider in the top three.

The peloton makes its first pass through San Sebastián.

“I’m happy to be back on the podium of a big race, especially such a hard one! Of course, I’m a little disappointed to have been so close to victory but I gave it my all and really left everything out there. Hirschi was really strong, he did a good sprint at the right time, so I don’t have any regrets, knowing that I did all that I could. Despite coming second, I got a lot of confidence and I’m looking forward to the next challenges together with the team”, said Julian after his 18th podium in a World Tour one-day race.

Marc Hischi (right) beats Julian Alaphilippe for the win.

Updated Complete results:

Photos

236 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.901 km/hr

1	Marc Hirschi	UAE Team Emirates	5hr 46min 12sec
2	Julian Alaphilippe	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
3	Lennert Van Eetvelt	Lotto Dstny	@ 7sec
4	Kevin Vermaerke	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	0:17
5	Jhonnatan Narvaez	INEOS Grenadiers	0:25
6	Neilson Powless	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
7	Patrick Konrad	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
8	Michael Woods	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
9	Jan Christen	UAE Team Emirates	0:36
10	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	0:37
11	Ben O'Connor	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
12	George Bennett	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
13	Jefferson Cepeda	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
14	Clément Berthet	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:39
15	Florian Lipowitz	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	0:53
16	Andreas Kron	Lotto Dstny	1:34
17	Pablo Castrillo	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:38
18	Maxim Van Gils	Lotto Dstny	2:17
19	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
20	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	3:53
21	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
22	Lorenzo Rota	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
23	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
24	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
25	Mauri Vansevenant	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
26	Alexander Hajek	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
27	Jordan Jegat	TotalEnergies	s.t.
28	Óscar Rodríguez	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
29	Lawrence Warbasse	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
30	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
31	Filippo Zana	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
32	Anthon Charmig	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
33	Mikel Landa	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
34	Sepp Kuss	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
35	Giulio Ciccone	Lidl-Trek	3:56
36	Wilco Kelderman	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
37	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:18
38	Ivan Romeo	Movistar	s.t.
39	Odd Christian Eiking	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
40	Roger Adrià	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
41	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
42	Santiago Buitrago	Bahrain Victorious	4:20
43	Nicolas Prodhomme	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	4:21
44	Juan Pedro Lopez	Lidl-Trek	4:22
45	Sam Oomen	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
46	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:24
47	Ion Izagirre	Cofidis	4:28
48	Hugh Carthy	EF Education-EasyPost	5:06
49	Isaac del Toro	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
50	Santiago Umba	Astana Qazaqstan	5:16
51	Einer Rubio	Movistar	s.t.
52	William Junior Lecerf	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
53	Joel Nicolau	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	s.t.
54	Alex Aranburu	Movistar	5:18
55	Carlos Garcia	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:23
56	Jimmy Janssens	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
57	Victor De La Parte	Euskaltel-Euskadi	6:03
58	Jonathan Lastra	Cofidis	6:57
59	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	6:58
60	Gorka Izagirre	Cofidis	7:30
61	Sergio Samitier	Movistar	s.t.
62	Chris Hamilton	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	7:32
63	Joseba Lopez	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	8:17
64	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
65	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty	8:36
66	Dylan van Baarle	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
67	Kevin Colleoni	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
68	Welay Berhe	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
69	Sergio Higuita	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
70	Clément Champoussin	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	8:52
71	Stefan de Bod	EF Education-EasyPost	10:32
72	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
73	Kenny Elissonde	Cofidis	s.t.
74	Nicola Conci	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
75	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
76	Thomas Silva	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA	11:53
77	Gianmarco Garofoli	Astana Qazaqstan	12:57
78	Louis Barré	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
79	Marco Frigo	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
80	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier	Lidl-Trek	13:21
81	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	13:34
82	Torstein Træen	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
83	Laurens Huys	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	14:16
84	Matthew Riccitello	Israel-Premier Tech	14:43

 

Race map & profile:

Here's the map of the 2024 Clasica San Sebastian

San Sebastian Classic profile

Clasica de San Sebastián photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Teams presentation ceremony before the race: Julian Alaphilippe

Jonas Vingegaard

Sepp Kuss

Team Groupama-FDJ

Romain Bardet

Michael Woods

Team Lotto Dstny

Neilson Powless

Marc Hirschi before the race start.

The race gets started.

Racing in San Sebastián

Julian Alaphilippe in the lead.

Marc Hirschi beats Julian Alaphilppe.

Marc Hirschi enjoys his victory.

Julian Alaphilppe finishes second.

Third-place Lennert Van Eetvelt

Kevin Vermaerke was fourth.

Jan Christen finishes ninth.

The podium, from left: Julian Alaphilippe (2nd), Marc Hirschi (1st), & Lennert Van Eetvelt (3rd)

Winner Marc Hirschi wears a Txapela, the traditional Basque beret.

Start list, August 9, 2024:

	Soudal Quick-Step
1	Julian Alaphilippe
2	Kasper Asgreen
3	Mattia Cattaneo
4	Gil Gelders
5	Mikel Landa
6	William Junior Lecerf
7	Mauri Vansevenant
	UAE Team Emirates
11	Igor Arrieta
12	Alessandro Covi
13	Isaac del Toro
14	Jan Christen
15	Marc Hirschi
16	Pavel Sivakov
17	Brandon McNulty
	EF Education-EasyPost
21	Markel Beloki
22	Simon Carr
23	Stefan de Bod
24	Neilson Powless
25	Sean Quinn
26	Hugh Carthy
27	Harry Sweeny
	Bahrain Victorious
31	Yukiya Arashiro
32	Santiago Buitrago
33	Damiano Caruso
34	Jack Haig
35	Finlay Pickering
36	Jasha Sütterlin
37	Torstein Træen
	Movistar Team
41	Alex Aranburu
42	Ruben Guerreiro
43	Antonio Pedrero
44	Einer Rubio
45	Sergio Samitier
46	Ivan Romeo
47	Ivan Sosa
	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale
51	Alex Baudin
52	Ben O'Connor
53	Clément Berthet
54	Nans Peters
55	Nicolas Prodhomme
56	Jordan Labrosse
57	Lawrence Warbasse
	Team Visma | Lease a Bike
61	Sepp Kuss
62	Dylan van Baarle
63	Thomas Gloag
64	Jonas Vingegaard
65	Wilco Kelderman
66	Milan Vader
67	Julien Vermote
	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
71	Romain Bardet
72	Warren Barguil
73	Romain Combaud
74	Chris Hamilton
75	Gijs Leemreize
76	Martijn Tusveld
77	Kevin Vermaerke
	Lidl-Trek
81	Giulio Ciccone
82	Julien Bernard
83	Jacopo Mosca
84	Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier
85	Pedro Lopez Juan
86	Patrick Konrad
87	Sam Oomen
	Equipo Kern Pharma
91	Pablo Castrillo
92	Jon Agirre
93	Urko Berrade
94	Pau Miquel Delgado
95	Unai Iribar
96	Carlos Garcia
97	Jordi Lopez
	Astana Qazaqstan
101	Gleb Brussenskiy
102	Anthon Charmig
103	Gianmarco Garofoli
104	Daniil Marukhin
105	Santiago Umba
106	Simone Velasco
107	Ide Schelling
	Intermarché-Wanty
111	Lilian Calmejane
112	Kevin Colleoni
113	Dries De Pooter
114	Alexy Faure-Prost
115	Tom Paquot
116	Simone Petilli
117	Lorenzo Rota
	Lotto Dstny
121	Johannes Adamietz
122	Logan Currie
123	Andreas Kron
124	Sylvain Moniquet
125	Lennert Van Eetvelt
126	Maxim Van Gils
127	Henri Vandenabeele
	Israel-Premier Tech
131	George Bennett
132	Marco Frigo
133	Mason Hollyman
134	Matthew Riccitello
135	Guy Sagiv
136	Riley Sheehan
137	Michael Woods
	Jayco-AlUla
141	Simon Yates
142	Lawson Craddock
143	Christopher Juul-Jensen
144	Chris Harper
145	Welay Berhe
146	Filippo Zana
147	Davide De Pretto
	Cofidis
151	Ion Izagirre
152	Kenny Elissonde
153	Simon Geschke
154	Jesus Herrada
155	Gorka Izagirre
156	Jonathan Lastra
157	Hugo Toumire
	Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe
161	Daniel Martinez
162	Roger Adrià
163	Giovanni Aleotti
164	Florian Lipowitz
165	Sergio Higuita
166	Alexander Hajek
167	Ben Zwiehoff
	Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
171	Fernando Barceló
172	Abel Balderstone
173	Jefferson Cepeda
174	Joseba Lopez
175	Joel Nicolau
176	Eduard Prades
177	Thomas Silva
	Groupama-FDJ
181	Lenny Martinez
182	Lorenzo Germani
183	Olivier Le Gac
184	Enzo Paleni
185	Rémy Rochas
186	Reuben Thompson
187	Eddy Le Huitouze
	Euskaltel-Euskadi
191	Nicolas Alustiza
192	Asier Etxeberria
193	Joan Bou
194	Mikel Bizkarra
195	Xabier Berasategi
196	Xabier Isasa
197	Victor De La Parte
	Alpecin-Deceuninck
201	Tobias Bayer
202	Nicola Conci
203	Michael Gogl
204	Jimmy Janssens
205	Axel Laurance
206	Stan Van Tricht
207	Gianni Vermeersch
	Arkea-B&B Hotels
211	Louis Barré
212	Clément Champoussin
213	Michel Ries
214	Thibault Guernalec
215	Simon Guglielmi
216	Laurens Huys
217	Lukasz Owsian
	INEOS Grenadiers
221	Jonathan Castroviejo
222	Omar Fraile
223	Michael Leonard
224	Jhonnatan Narvaez
225	Salvatore Puccio
226	Óscar Rodríguez
227	Connor Swift
	Uno-X Mobility
231	Odd Christian Eiking
232	Fredrik Dversnes
233	Ådne Holter
234	Anders Halland Johannessen
235	Tobias Halland Johannessen
236	Johannes Kulset
237	Anders Skaarseth
	TotalEnergies
241	Steff Cras
242	Pierre Latour
243	Valentin Ferron
244	Fabien Grellier
245	Jordan Jegat
246	Alan Jousseaume
247	Alexis Vuillermoz