Marc Hirschi wins Clasica San Sebastian over Julian Alaphilippe; Lennert van Eetvelt third in thrilling finale

Julian Alaphilippe launched two attacks on the brutal final climb to Pilotegi but UAE Team Emirates took the victory with Marc Hirschi. The team had the numbers in the race's finale and took full advantage of it, with a two-up sprint decided the race.

The race started off with Alan Jousseaume and Axel Laurance going on the attack but they were not able to remain in front in what was a fast start. A group of 10 riders went up the road and formed the day's breakaway with Amanuel Ghebregizabhier, Simon Carr, Warren Barguil, Thibault Guernalec, Pierre Latour, Sylvain Moniquet, Ben Zwiehoff, Jesús Herrada, Davide de Pretto and Adne Holter.

The group never managed to have a significant gap, with Soudal - Quick-Step and Team Visma | Lease a Bike doing significant work. On the climb to Jaizkibel Simon Carr went solo off the front of the race whilst the peloton caught on the remaining escapees and brought the gap to around a minute.

On Erlaitz the race exploded, with some of the main favourites such as Jonas Vingegaard, Daniel Martínez and Mikel Landa being dropped. Florian Lipowitz and Julian Alaphilippe were the first to attack, Pavel Sivakov launched an attack and dropped the other two, going solo over the top of the climb with 10 seconds over a small group. One that grew quickly after, with Andreas Kron of Lotto Dstny setting the pace in the flat section which kept the gap stable.

Hence, Sivakov stood no chance as the riders arrived in the final climb. Julian Alaphilippe attakced right at the base, followed by Marc Hirschi. A few riders bridged across as Alaphilippe slowed down. On the most difficult ramps, 20% for 600 meters, Lennert van Eetvelt set the pace but in the final meters of the climb Julian Alaphilippe attacked again with Marc Hirschi being the only one able to follow.

The duo arrived at the finishing straight together. Hirschi was the first to launch the sprint and side-to-side the two sprinted towards the line, but the UAE Team Emirates rider was the fastest over the Frenchman. Lennert van Eetvelt was third on the day with Kevin Vermaerke coming in fourth and Jhonatan Narváez sprinting to fifth from behind.

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