Preview - Clasica San Sebastian 2022

On the 30th of July the World Tour peloton will get back on the road, leaving behind the Tour de France and going into Spain with a big variety of classics and stage-races. One will be the Clásica San Sebastián which will see the climbers and puncheurs come to the front in a battle for serious points.

The route will total a long 223 kilometers on the road with over 4000 meters of climbing which will leave the climbers and puncheurs as the main favourites. The race sees a lot of climbs early on, although it never goes into the high mountains, instead going through some hilly roads, and the final 70 kilometers will decided the outcome with three key climbs.

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The first is the Jaizkibel, 7.4 kilometers long at 5.8% and summits with 63 kilometers to go, with a rather technical descent afterwards. The second will be Erlaitz with it’s summit at 43Km to go, it averages over 10% for 4 kilometers, differences can be made, attacks can be dealt and serious damage can be created for the race’s outcome.

Over the last few years the crucial point has become the Alto de Murgil. the riders look to save their legs for the final 900 meters of the climb where the gradients are vicious, up to 18% - officially it is 2.0Km at 9.9%, and summits with 8 kilometers to go. From there on it's a mere descent and fast run-in back into the city center for the riders to cross the line.

The final startlist includes: Alberto Bettiol, Rigoberto Urán, Ruben Guerreiro, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Daniel Martínez, Carlos Rodriguez, Remco Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar, João Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Matej Mohoric, Wout Poels, Domenico Pozzovivo, Bauke Mollema, Tiesj Benoot, Tom Dumoulin, Simon Yates, Michael Matthews, Andreas Kron, Vincenzo Nibali, Guillaume Martin, Alejandro Valverde, Alex Aranburu, Soren Kragh Andersen, Patrick Bevin, David Gaudu, Jai Hindley, Emanuel Buchmann, Wilco Kelderman and Max Schachmann.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:

**** Tadej Pogacar

*** Remco Evenepoel, Simon Yates

** Bauke Mollema, Alejandro Valverde, David Gaudu

* Juan Ayuso, Carlos Rodriguez, João Almeida, Max Schachmann