Kooij second in PolandRemco Evenepoel has won the Clásica San Sebastián for the third time in his young career. The 23-year-old Belgian world champion defeated the Basque public favorite Pello Bilbao in a sprint-a-deux, completing his hat-trick after previous victories in 2019 and 2022. Evenepoel is now joint record holder with Marino Lejarreta (1981, 1982 and 1987) in terms of victories in the WorldTour classic.
World champion Evenepoel opted for the attack more than seventy kilometers before the finish. The world top player of Soudal Quick-Step got Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe) with him. Together they caught up with the early escapees, including Romain Bardet.
On the hilly Basque roads, the original early escapees had to unload one by one at the front. On the Murgil, the last climb of the day, Vlasov could no longer keep up with the pace of Evenepoel and Bilbao. In the sprint for victory, the world champion was convincingly the strongest, Bilbao had to settle for second place and Vlasov completed the podium in 28 seconds.
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Evenepoel seems to be in good shape in time for the World Cup that will start in Glasgow next week. He defends his world title on the road there and also seems promising in the time trial. The Belgian also hopes to win the Vuelta, just like last year. The Tour of Spain starts on Saturday, August 26 and ends on Sunday, September 17. Despite its second place in the Clásica San Sebastián, Bilbao is having a wonderful season. De Basque won a stage in the Tour de France and finished sixth in the general classification.
Evenepoel celebrated his victory exuberantly. “Bilbao is one of the best climbers,” he said. ,,But my legs were super and I surprised myself with my sprint. This is perfectly natural, also mentally and for my motivation. It is ideal to start the second half of my season like this. Bring on Glasgow.”
Kooij second in Poland
Tim Merlier has won the first stage in the Tour of Poland. The 183 kilometer ride with start and finish in Poznan ended in a sprint of a large first group. The Soudal – Quick-Step rider pushed his wheel just before the Dutchman Olav Kooij of Jumbo-Visma crossed the line. Colombian Fernando Gaviria was third.
The peloton that sprinted for the stage victory was considerably thinned out by a few crashes. The Tour of Poland is a seven-day WorldTour stage race. The second stage on Sunday goes from Lezno to Karpacz and is 203 kilometers long.
View the final kilometers of the first stage in the Tour of Poland here:
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