Remco Evenepoel wins record fourth Clasica San Sebastian
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Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel (right) celebrating after out-sprinting Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz to win the 45th edition of the San Sebastian Classic 2026 race in Spain on Aug 1.
PHOTO: EPA
SAN SEBASTIAN – Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel powered back from a late puncture to beat Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz in a two-man sprint on Aug 1 to win a record fourth Clasica San Sebastian.
Evenepoel was forced to switch bikes on a climb 50km from home, but showed all the power that brought him the world and Olympic time-trial titles to rejoin the leaders with 33km remaining.
The Belgian then attacked his fellow leaders on the final short Murgil climb, with only Carapaz able to follow. Evenepoel had enough left in the tank to win by a bike length in downtown San Sebastian as he made history in the 221km Basque one-day classic.
“It was the most difficult one of all four,” said the 26-year-old, describing it as a beautiful day.
“I had to be patient. I have to thank my team for all the work, of course,” he said of his Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe teammates and their efforts to shepherd him to the final hill.
Carapaz won the polka dot jersey for the “King of the Mountains” at the recent Tour de France while Evenepoel finished second overall to Tadej Pogacar at the Tour.
Time-trial specialist Evenepoel, who is also the reigning Olympic road race champion, said he would now turn his attention to trying to reclaim the world road race title he won in 2022.
“First, what is on my mind is some recovery, some rest, and then I’m going to build up to try and become world champion,” he said.
Reigning two-time world champion Pogacar will also be in Canada to defend his title on Sept 27.
In Switzerland, Lorena Wiebes sprinted to victory in the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes in Lausanne on Aug 1 to claim the race leader’s yellow jersey.
The 27-year-old Dutch rider beat Mauritian Kim le Court into second place with European champion Demi Vollering third.
“I almost cannot believe it. The team, SD Worx-Protime, they worked super hard today,” said Wiebes.
“Anna (van der Breggen) still came to the front with 1km to go, and then Demi attacked.
“I was like, ‘I need to follow’. It was a long sprint, but I’m super happy with this.”
Sprint specialist Wiebes, a two-time former European champion, leads the overall standings by four seconds from le Court and six seconds to Vollering, thanks to bonus seconds on the line.
This was Wiebes’ 10th Tour stage victory overall and the 132nd victory of her career.
Among the likely overall contenders, Vollering stole a march on some of her rivals by taking four bonus seconds on the line.
That gave her an advantage over the last two winners of this race, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Kasia Niewiadoma, who finished eighth and ninth respectively in the same time as the stage winner.
Other potential contenders Paula Blasi and Wiebes’ teammate van der Breggen conceded an extra eight seconds to Vollering, coming home in 12th and 13th.
The second stage on Aug 2 is a hilly 147.9km from Aigle to Geneva. AFP
