Wonderkid Evenepoel powers to Clasica San Sebastian victory

Remco Evenepoel won Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday, securing the 19-year-old his first victory in World Tour.

The Deceuninck-Quick Step rider broke away from the group of pre-race favorites on the final climb of the hilly one-day race and stayed ahead on the descent to finish more than half a minute clear.

Trek-Segafredo’s Toms Skujins launched an attack in the final 20km and was followed by Evenepoel, and the two of them created a gap of more than half a minute with the reduced pack.

At a bit more than eight kilometres to go, Skujins couldn’t hold the pace of his Belgian companion and the 19-year-old continued by himself. Evenepoel managed to keep the distance with the rest and crossed the finish line alone, after which he broke into tears of happiness.

Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) crossed the line in second position. Marc Hirschi, Gorka Izagirre and Bauke Mollema completed the top five of the Spanish race.

Tour de France winner Egan Bernal was dropped from the peloton midway through the race. Julian Alaphilippe, who won this race in 2018, withdrew with around 150 kilometers to go.

“I really did not feel good today for most of the race,” said Evenepoel. “I did not to go so early, but I knew with power I could take [Skujinš] in the climb, and this is incredible. I really cannot believe this. It’s unbelievable. I’ll be honest, it was really a dream to once win this race in my career, and now I’ve done it already. It’s incredible. I really didn’t expect this. It’s incredible.”

Riding straight into the history books! That was some performance from @EvenepoelRemco! pic.twitter.com/ISxMICUrPq

— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) August 3, 2019

Clasica San Sebastian 2019 results: