The record-breaking ride

Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe won the 45th Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday, his fourth victory in the one-day World Tour classic. Having also claimed the race in 2019, 2022 and 2023, he now stands alone with four wins, breaking the previous benchmark of three held by the Basque rider Marino Lejarreta. The 221.1-kilometre route climbed 4,150 metres across the hills of the Basque Country. Evenepoel arrived only six days after his second-place finish behind Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France, where he also won two stages.

Early moves and the breakaway

The day’s first serious action came when eight riders broke clear after 25 kilometres: Tim Rex (Visma-Lease a Bike), Valentin Ferron (Cofidis), Lorenzo Quartucci (Burgos Burpellet BH), Adne Holter (Uno-X Mobility), Nickolas Zukowsky (Pinarello Q36.5), Joan Bou (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Inigo Elosegui (Kern Pharma) and Nicolas Alustiza (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Their lead exceeded three minutes. At the first passage of the finish line, with 80 kilometres remaining, the peloton trailed by 2 minutes 45 seconds. On the Jaizkibel climb (7.9 km at 5.6%) the break disintegrated; Rex and Quartucci kept ahead, later joined by Maxim Van Gils, Bart Lemmens, Jay Vine and Sean Quinn to form a new six-man front group.

The puncture and comeback

Evenepoel’s prospects dipped sharply when he punctured his rear tyre roughly 50 kilometres from the finish, losing more than 30 seconds. He chased alone down the descent of the Erlaitz (3.8 km at 11.1%) and bridged back to the main field before the summit. At that point, with 42.7 kilometres still to race, defending champion Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) led a group of ten that still included Van Gils.

The winning attack on Murgil Tontorra

With 10 kilometres left, the race hit the decisive Murgil Tontorra, a 2-kilometre climb averaging 9.7 percent and ramping up to 16 percent. Evenepoel launched a sharp acceleration 8.7 kilometres from the line. Only Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost could follow. Carapaz, who won the mountains classification and the combativity prize at the Tour, clung to the Belgian’s wheel as the pair rapidly distanced the first chase group.

Sprint into San Sebastian

Working together through the final flat section, Evenepoel and Carapaz built a 29-second cushion over the pursuers. In the head-to-head sprint, Evenepoel easily outpaced the Ecuadorian to secure his historic fourth title. Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the sprint from that group for third place.

Swiss riders in the spotlight

Two Swiss cyclists featured prominently in the chase. Jan Christen, who was second in 2024, finished seventh, while Marc Hirschi, the 2024 winner, crossed the line eighth. Their presence underlined the race’s status as a key post-Tour test.