PREVIEW | Clasica San Sebastian 2025 - Can Ayuso and Del Toro work together for a comeback victory?

World Tour racing resumes on the 2nd of August. After the end of the Tour de France always comes one of the hardest and most iconic one-day races of the World Tour calendar in the Clàsica San Sebastiàn - which happens every year in the cycling-loving Basque Country. We preview the race ahead.

The route will total a long 212 kilometers on the road with over 3900 meters of climbing which will leave the climbers and puncheurs as the main favourites. However, it must be said that the route has lost around 20 kilometers and 500 climbing meters when comparing to last year's route, countering the trend of most races over recent years.

The race sees less climbs early on, down from five to three. They are not easy and can be used to set a high pace that will fatigue the peloton, but the riders won't arrive to the key part of the race with as many kilometers in the legs as they would otherwise.

The first is the Jaizkibel, 7.9 kilometers long at 5.5% and summits with 62 kilometers to go, with a rather technical descent afterwards. It is farther from the finish this year with the addition of a new climb, but it remains the race's most iconic ascent.

It's followed by the Erlaitz ascent 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. With it's constant and tough gradients it may be the location where the climbers are the most comfortable and where the race can explode. A plateau section follows before descending into San Sebastián for the first time.

The race then returns to the climb to Murgil. In recent years they've ridden up different sides of the hill next to the city which could be considered different climbs, but this is the most used one in recent years. With 2 kilometers at 9.4% it's a traditional Basque 'wall' and there is a section of 500 meters at 15% which can decimate any group. If there are legs to make a difference in this race, there is the terrain to do so as well.

The descent to the finish then is technical, fast and will leave the riders with only 3 kilometers to go. It is then a fast flat road into the heart of San Sebastián where there will be a solo winner or small sprint for victory.

Some northern breeze which could help riders who want to attack in Erlaitz to do so. It won't change the race much however, whilst there are small chances that rain will fall either before or during the race and make the descents sketchier.

Climbers - Will 'Tour legs' decide this race? Often, the Klasikoa is won by riders coming out of the Tour with incredible form and some days of rest in their legs. Looking at the startlist we have men like Oscar Onley, Tobias Johannessen and Lenny Martínez who are all on paper serious threats and all are riders well adapted to the steep and short climbs of the Basque Country. But it's a 50-50, fatigue could instead be what they feel and they end up not being in contention for victory. At the Tour they were completely absent, but Cofidis duo Ion Izagirre and Alex Aranburu could always perform in this race taking into consideration their history.

Amongst the top favourites will be UAE Team Emirates - XRG who have in Jan Christen and Jay Vine interesting outsiders but two main favourites in Isaac del Toro (fresh off several victories in July, clearly in great form) and Juan Ayuso who has just been appointed to the Vuelta squad and will want to show good form in what will be his first race since abandoning the Giro d'Italia. Primoz Roglic was a late addition to the race and on paper a rider perfectly suited to this race. It will be interesting to see what he is going to be capable of.

On the side, we can expect some of these men to be in or near the front, on a good day: Nicolas Prodhomme, Pello Bilbao, Antonio Tiberi, Giulio Ciccone, Chris Harper, Harold Martín López, Giulio Pellizzari, Aleksandr Vlasov, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda and Urko Berrade. From these, Ciccone and Pellizzari could well take the win on their best day whilst Bilbao is always a dangerous man on roads that he knows like the back of his hand.

Puncheurs - But like last year, the race may be decided on the final climb and between the classics specialists. If Jaizkibel and Erlaitz are ridden at the maximum, then you're allowing puncheurs to be present in front for a 2-kilometer long climb. That would be a tactical mistake for several teams. With the race shorter and featuring less climbing meters this also becomes more of a possibility than usual.

You won't likely see defending champion Marc Hirschi do the same as he experienced three weeks without a single strong performance at the Tour. On the opposite side of the spectrum you've had men like Romain Grégoire, Tiesj Benoot, Mauro Schmid, Neilson Powless, Quinn Simmons and Simone Velasco... Different types of classics riders, but all of them quite versatile riders who are legitimate victory contenders.

Aurélien Paret-Peintre, Michal Kwiatkowski, Christian Scaroni, Maxim van Gils, Lukas Nerurkar and Ewen Costiou are also men to watch. It's a mix of riders coming from the Tour and others coming from some good summer training, which will make it an interesting mix where we can have surprises both on the positive and negative.

*** Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic
** Oscar Onley, Tobias Johannessen, Lenny Martínez
* Antonio Tiberi, Pello Bilbao, Giulio Ciccone, Giulio Pellizzari, Ion Izagirre, Quinn Simmons, Michal Kwiatkowski, Maxim van Gils, Neilson Powless, Romain Grégoire, Tiesj Benoot, Jay Vine

Pick: Isaac del Toro

How: I think UAE will dominate the race unless Oscar Onley has his Tour legs. If not, Ayuso or Del Toro will take the race with one of them taking a solo win, depending on the timing of the attack.