Julian Alaphilippe, the winner of the polka dot jersey for the best climber at the Tour de France, pipped Bauke Mollema to victory in a sprint finish at Saturday’s San Sebastian Classic.
Alaphilippe and Mollema broke clear with eight of the 228.7 kilometres remaining after a nasty crash sent Egan Bernal and Mikel Landa to hospital.
The Quick-Step Floors continued the good form that saw him win a pair of mountain stages on this year’s Tour and easily claim the king of the mountains prize.
Alaphilippe and Mollema escaped on the day’s final climb, the Murgil Tontorra which featured sections with a gradient of 22 percent, before the Frenchman shone again in a two-man sprint.
“I knew that the race suited my characteristics, but I honestly didn’t expect to win today,” Alaphilippe said. “I didn’t feel very good, as I was tired after a long and hard Tour de France, but stayed focused in the final and made my effort at the right time, using the last climb as launch pad.
“I want to say a big thank you to my teammates, who protected and helped me throughout the day, believing in my chances. I am very happy after this win, because San Sebastian is a special race which I like a lot and it means a lot to conclude this part of the season with another beautiful victory.”
Clasica San Sebastian 2018 results:
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) | 6:03:45 |
| 2 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 3 | Anthony Roux (Groupama-FDJ) | +16” |
| 4 | Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) | ,, |
| 5 | Julien Simon (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 6 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 7 | Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 8 | Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 9 | Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 10 | Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 11 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | +20” |
| 12 | Daniel Martin (UAE Team Emirates) | +43” |
| 13 | Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) | +48” |
| 14 | Igor Anton (Dimension Data) | +49” |
| 15 | Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) | +51” |
| 16 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 17 | Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 18 | Pello Bilbao (Astana) | ,, |
| 19 | James Knox (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 20 | Jelle Vanendert (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
