2023-07-29 17:19:12
Just back to competition after an internship in Val di Fassa, in the Dolomites in Italy, Remco Evenepoel, who followed the Tour on TV, immediately regains victory. The recovery races are doing well for the Belgian who had already won Liège-Bastogne-Liège alone after a first training course for the Giro. This time, it was the Clasica San Sebastian that he added for the third time to his already very long list at only 23 years old. He had already won on Basque roads, after 2019 and 2022.
Five riders had slipped into a morning breakaway. Three French were part of it: Julien Bernard, Franck Bonnamour and Romain Bardet, back after having fallen heavily during the 14th stage of the Tour de France. 73 kilometers from the finish, Remco Evenepoel, who is wearing his world champion jersey for the last time before putting it back into play this Sunday, August 6 in Glasgow, made his first attack. “The plan was not to leave so soon but I was running out of teammates so I decided to go and see if a group would join me, he explained on arrival. And it ended up being a great group! »
Accompanied by Aleksandr Vlasov, Alberto Bettiol and Pello Bilbao, the Belgian returned to contact with Romain Bardet and Nathan Van Hooydonck, the two survivors up front. In the Mendizorrotz, the world champion accelerated to skim this group. Only Vlasov and Bilbao were able to keep pace.
Pello Bilbao resists in the Murgil
The three men presented themselves together, with more than three minutes in advance, at the foot of the last difficulty, the terrible Murgil, short but particularly steep (2.1km at 9.9%). The winner was in this group, the trio only had to explain themselves. At the train, without placing a clear acceleration but stifling his opponents, Remco Evenepoel let go of Aleksandr Vlasov, but did not manage to get rid of Pello Bilbao, determined to win on his land.
The victory was finally decided in the sprint. Well placed in the wheel of his opponent, the Belgian attacked more than 200 meters from the goal and managed to pass the Spaniard to win and offer himself a third victory in San Sebastian. This is the first victory for a wearer of the rainbow jersey in this race. It is also his third victory of the season in a one-day race in… three events. Amazing.
#Cycling #Remco #Evenepoel #hattrick #Clasica #San #Sebastian