The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the most important one-day race in Spain, is considered a one-day race of great prestige, just behind the 'Monuments', and contributes points towards the UCI World Ranking.

Clásica de San Sebastián
Race details
DateLate July or early August
RegionBasque Country, Spain
English nameClassic of San Sebastián
Local name(s)Clásica de San Sebastián (in Spanish)
Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa (in Basque)
Nickname(s)Ronda Donostiarra
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI World Tour
TypeOne-day
OrganiserOrganizaciones Ciclistas Euskadi
Race directorJosé Luis Arrieta
Web sitewww.klasikoa.eus Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1981
Editions43 (as of 2024)
First winner Marino Lejarreta (ESP)
Most wins Marino Lejarreta (ESP) (3 wins)
 Remco Evenepoel (BEL)
Most recent Marc Hirschi (SUI)

Clásica de San Sebastián is known for its winding, undulating terrain which favours aggressive riding, favouring climbers. It includes the tough Alto de Jaizkibel climb, usually the decisive point of the race.[1] It is one of the three summer classics that form part of the UCI World Tour calendar, along with the Laurentian Classics.

Usually the protagonists of the Clásica de San Sebastián are those who, until a few days before the race have been competing on the roads of the Tour de France, given the proximity of dates of the two competitions. There are many Klasikoa winners who also have a Grand Tour in their palmares.

It has always started and finished in San Sebastián, although the initial and intermediate stretches have varied throughout its history, so its total mileage has not been the same, although it has almost always been around 230 km.[2] The race traditionally finishes at the Boulevard de San Sebastián a major street in the centre of the city.

It is organized by Organizaciones Ciclistas Euskadi, after the merger of the Euskal Bizikleta with the Tour of the Basque Country in 2009.

History

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Jaime Ugarte (1996)
 
Joaquim Rodríguez and his teammate Constantino Zaballa, wearing the txapela, usually given to winners in the Basque Country.

Clásica de San Sebastián is the most important one-day race in Spanish professional road cycling. It was first run in 1981 and has stopped only due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race was created by a cycling journalist of Diario Vasco and founder/chief of Organizaciones Deportivas Diario Vasco, Jaime Ugarte. He later went on to found Tour of the Basque Country.[3]

Ugarte won the elections to lead the Guipuzcoan Cycling Federation, and one of his first tasks as president was revitalize the track, and the creation of an important race for San Sebastián. Along with his friends and colleagues, José Mari Eceiza and the Ayestarán brothers, they devised the idea of a professional race to inspire amateurs and fans. They designed a race between San Sebastián and Bilbao, but several reasons impeded this, so they decided to focus on Gipuzkoa, where the mountain pass Jaizkibel was located. Helped by UCI president Luis Puig, they placed the race in the highest steps of world cycling.[4]

Ugarte has talked about the creation of the race:

Our idea was to do a race for professionals to motivate amateurs. We thought of a Six Days, but we left it at the Six Hours because here there was no mentality for this type of race. We wanted to do an international classic copying Paris–Roubaix, Milan–San Remo, Liège–Bastogne–Liège.... We also thought of doing San Sebastián-Bilbao and the following year Bilbao–San Sebastián, even round trip, but we were going too far in kilometers. In the end, we decided that since the only important pass in Gipuzkoa was Jaizkibel, it had to go through there, with a return trip through Gipuzkoa and a finish at the Boulevard. At the beginning, we also held a night criterium at the Boulevard.[4]

The birth of the race

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Marino Lejarreta, the race's first, and most successful champion.

The race was first organized in 1981. Throughout the 229 kilometers that this race consisted of, the most outstanding note was the hardness of it. Of the 71 riders who took the start, only 30 were able to reach the finish line, on a very hot day and with a huge number of spectators watching the race. The ascent of the five passes that marked the route caused havoc in the peloton. With some skirmishes, the race was relatively calm until the Jaizkibel (which with Azcárate, Karabieta, Udana and Alto de Orio) formed the quintet of great difficulties of the race. There, Marino Lejarreta took off and marched alone towards the finish line. He managed to win again the following year, attacking the rest of the chasing group in Jaizkibel, and reaching Pedro Delgado and Jesús Rodríguez Magro in the breakaway, managing to beat them in the final sprint.[5] He would go on to repeat the feat in 1987. Other important riders who managed to win the race in its first editions include Miguel Induráin, World Champion Claude Criquielion and Classics Allah Adri van der Poel.

Redrawing the climbs

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The cyclists climb in 2006.

Over the years the organizers have added climbs to complicate the race, as the riders' level has generally improved over the years, making it more of a climbers classic. The course was insufficient for the big group to break up and play for the victory in San Sebastián or in the previous climbs of Gaintzurizketa and especially Miracruz (3 km from the finish), since in some editions it had an outcome similar to that of the Milan–San Remo. After the turn of the century the race has come to be dominated by Puncheurs, All-rounders, and classics specialist who could sustain themselves in climbs, on top of the climbers.

Recent occurrences

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On 1 August 2015, Adam Yates took his biggest victory to date by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián after attacking on the final climb as leader Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team was involved in a crash with a race motorcycle, and holding off the chasers on the descent into San Sebastián. In the confusion after Van Avermaet's crash Yates did not realise he had won, so did not initially celebrate when crossing the finishing line.[6]

 
Evenepoel winning the 2019 edition.

On 3 August 2019 Remco Evenepoel scored his first World Tour victory when he won the Clásica de San Sebastián. He escaped from the field, accompanied by Toms Skujiņš about 20 km (12 mi) from the finish, dropping his companion on the last hill and soloing to victory.[7] He became the third youngest rider to win a classic.

Route

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It has always started and finished in San Sebastián and the initial and intermediate section has been variable in all its editions so its total mileage has not been the same although it has almost always been around 230 km. Its maximum difficulty is the top of Jaizquíbel (classified as 1st category) located in the first editions about 15 km from the finish, although with progressive changes it has been moving away from the finish. Thus in those first editions it was climbed on the Fuenterrabía slope until, in order to offer other alternatives, giving the opportunity to other types of riders and not favoring so much the climbers, it was decided to climb the opposite slope of Pasajes to place the pass at about 30 km from the finish.[8]

As in 2000, a group of 53 riders arrived after Jaizkibel in 2001, the Gurutze pass (classified as 3rd category) was included, replacing the Gaintzurizketa pass, leaving Jaizkibel 32 km from the finish. This change initially caused a more selected group to arrive. However, after the 2006 edition, in which a group of 51 riders arrived, other alternatives were sought and progressively introduced. In 2008 Gurutze was replaced by Gaintzurizketa+Arkale (catalogued as 2nd category) placing Jaizkibel at 38.5 km from the finish. Then, in 2010, a circuit was added repeating twice the hard part of the race (Jaizkibel and Gaintzurizketa+Arkale). Finally, in 2014, another circuit was introduced inside San Sebastián passing twice through the finish line to climb the Igueldo pass -on the slope called Bordako Tontorra- (classified as 2nd category) at 7 km from the finish line, but leaving the last pass through Jaizkibel at 53.9 km from the finish line. This last change has not been without criticism since it can condition the race a lot as it could avoid distant attacks and favor climbers something that was wanted to be avoided in the first editions.[9][10][11]

In the 2018 edition the race continues to be run in the surroundings of the province of Guipuzcoa in the Basque Country up to the city of San Sebastián, likewise, the total number of mountain passes is maintained with 8 passes, of which Jaizquíbel and Arkale are climbed twice with the purpose of causing a strong selection in the race, later the cyclists face the last pass of Murgil Tontorra with a length of 1.8 kilometers at 11.3% to then descend and finish above the city of San Sebastián.

Jaizkibel

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Mt. Jaizkibel

The Jaizikbel is often a decisive climb in the Clásica San Sebastián. Nowadays the hill is climbed twice in the race and during the last passage a small group of riders remains at the front of the race and are able to win the Clásica San Sebastián. The Jaizkibel is followed by the Alto de Arkale climb with the top only fourteen kilometers from the finish in San Sebastián.

Current climbs

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Current climbs of the race
Name Distance Avg. Gradient
Azkarate 4.2 km 7.3%
Urraki 8.6 km 6.9%
Alkiza 4.4 km 6.2%
Jaizkibel 7.9 km 5.6%
Erlaitz 3.8 km 10.6%
Murgil-Tontorra 2.1 km 10.1%

Winners

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Year Country Rider Team
1981   Spain Marino Lejarreta Teka
1982   Spain Marino Lejarreta Teka
1983   Belgium Claude Criquielion Splendor
1984    Switzerland Niki Rüttimann La Vie Claire
1985   Netherlands Adri van der Poel Kwantum–Decosol–Yoko
1986   Spain Iñaki Gastón Kas
1987   Spain Marino Lejarreta Caja Rural–Seguros RGA
1988   Netherlands Gert-Jan Theunisse PDM–Ultima–Concorde
1989   Austria Gerhard Zadrobilek 7-Eleven
1990   Spain Miguel Induráin Banesto
1991   Italy Gianni Bugno Chateau d'Ax–Gatorade
1992   Mexico Raúl Alcalá PDM–Ultima–Concorde
1993   Italy Claudio Chiappucci Carrera Jeans–Tassoni
1994   France Armand de Las Cuevas Castorama
1995   United States Lance Armstrong Motorola
1996   Germany Udo Bölts Team Telekom
1997   Italy Davide Rebellin Française des Jeux
1998   Italy Francesco Casagrande Cofidis
1999   Italy Francesco Casagrande Vini Caldirola
2000   Netherlands Erik Dekker Rabobank
2001   France Laurent Jalabert CSC–Tiscali
2002   France Laurent Jalabert CSC–Tiscali
2003   Italy Paolo Bettini Quick-Step–Davitamon
2004   Spain Miguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero Saunier Duval–Prodir
2005   Spain Constantino Zaballa Saunier Duval–Prodir
2006   Spain Xavier Florencio Bouygues Télécom
2007   Spain Juan Manuel Gárate Quick-Step–Innergetic
2008   Spain Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne
2009   Czech Republic Roman Kreuziger Liquigas
2010   Spain Luis León Sánchez Caisse d'Epargne
2011   Belgium Philippe Gilbert Omega Pharma–Lotto
2012   Spain Luis León Sánchez Rabobank
2013   France Tony Gallopin RadioShack–Leopard
2014   Spain Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team
2015   Great Britain Adam Yates Orica–GreenEDGE
2016   Netherlands Bauke Mollema Trek–Segafredo
2017   Poland Michał Kwiatkowski Team Sky
2018   France Julian Alaphilippe Quick-Step Floors
2019   Belgium Remco Evenepoel Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2020 No race
2021   United States Neilson Powless EF Education–Nippo
2022   Belgium Remco Evenepoel Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
2023   Belgium Remco Evenepoel Soudal–Quick-Step
2024    Switzerland Marc Hirschi UAE Team Emirates

Multiple winners

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Riders in italics are active.

Wins Rider Editions
3
  Marino Lejarreta (ESP) 1981, 1982, 1987
  Remco Evenepoel (BEL) 2019, 2022, 2023
2
  Francesco Casagrande (ITA) 1998, 1999
  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) 2001, 2002
  Luis León Sánchez (ESP) 2010, 2012
  Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 2008, 2014

Wins per country

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Wins Country
13
  Spain
6
  Italy
5
  Belgium
  France
4
  Netherlands
2
  United States
   Switzerland
1
  Austria
  Czech Republic
  Germany
  Mexico
  Poland
  United Kingdom

Women's race

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In 2019, a women's race was added.[12] It covered 127 km and follows a similar route to the men, including a climb of the Jaizkibel. It was replaced by a 3 day event known as Itzulia Women ('Tour of the Basque Country' for women) from 2022.[13][14]

Year Country Rider Team
2019   Australia Lucy Kennedy Mitchelton–Scott
2020 No race
2021   Netherlands Annemiek van Vleuten Movistar Team

Wins per country

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Wins Country
1
  Australia
  Netherlands
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References

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  1. ^ "Clásica de San Sebastián: the festival of the climbers". UCI. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Rutómetro de la Clásica San Sebastián- San Sebastián (2008-2009)". Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  3. ^ Alonso, Carolina (16 January 2013). ""La Clásica San Sebastián es un escaparate buenísimo, la hemos visto hasta viajando en avión"". Noticias de Gipuzkoa. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b Urraburu, Benito (17 August 2012). ""Que tu afición entienda de ciclismo es algo que te motiva"". Diario Vasco. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Marino Lejarreta, el ciclista que caía bien". clasica-san-sebastian.diariovasco.com. 28 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Adam Yates wins Clásica de San Sebastián – without knowing it – Cycling Weekly". 1 August 2015.
  7. ^ Malach, Pat (3 August 2019). "Evenepoel wins Clasica San Sebastian". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Clásica San Sebastián 2009 | Recorrido | Trazado y perfil de la Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián 2009 - diariovasco.com". Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Web oficial de la Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián 2007. Recorrido - diariovasco.com". Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Clasica San Sebastian | Recorrido de la Clasica San Sebastian 2013 con Diariovasco.com". www.diariovasco.com. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Klasikoa". 3 September 2021. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Clasica San Sebastián Feminina". Donostiako Klasikoa. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  13. ^ "There will be no Itzulia Women's race in 2021 but there will be a Women's San Sebastián Classic". Itzulia Basque Country. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Itzulia Women 2022 Preview: Route, contenders and predictions". Rouleur. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.