{"id":716515,"date":"2026-07-29T02:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/716515\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T02:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T02:51:15","slug":"profile-route-clasica-san-sebastian-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/716515\/","title":{"rendered":"Profile & Route Cl\u00e1sica San Sebasti\u00e1n 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The race quickly gained international traction and in 1985 none other than Adrie van der Poel was the winner here. Big names such as Miguel Indur\u00e1in, Claudio Chiapucci, Lance Armstrong and Davide Rebellin are part of the official list of winners in the 1990’s, a mix of Grand Tour and classics specialists – one that has continued to remain notable until current day.<\/p>\n

Laurent Jalabert, Alejadnro Valverde, Paolo Bettini and Philippe Gilbert are some of the most notable winners entering the new century but the recent years have also seen big names such as Julian Alaphilippe and Remco Evenepoel win. The Olympic Champion has won it on three occasions (2019, 2022 and 2023). Giulio Ciccone won it in 2025 with a solo attack on the final ascent.<\/p>\n

Profile: San Sebasti\u00e1n – San Sebasti\u00e1n\u00a0\"Profile<\/p>\n

San Sebasti\u00e1n – San Sebasti\u00e1n, 221.3 kilometers\u00a0<\/p>\n

The climbs of the Cl\u00e1sica San Sebasti\u00e1n\u00a0<\/p>\n

The opening phase will load fatigue into the legs. After leaving Donostia, the peloton will head towards the Gipuzkoa coast before tackling the first mountain tests. The first categorised climb is the Alto de Kalbario (2,2 km at 8 %), at kilometre 55,9. Soon after comes Azkarate (4,2 km at 7,3 %), a longer, tougher ascent that will begin to thin the main group.<\/p>\n

The first major obstacle is the Alto de Urraki, second category, 8,6 kilometres at 6,9 %. Traditionally this climb hardens the race and strips many favourites of teammates. After the descent, the peloton takes on Alkiza (4,4 km at 6,2 %), before a long, relatively favourable stretch that leads back towards the Gipuzkoa capital.<\/p>\n

As almost every year, the Cl\u00e1sica San Sebasti\u00e1n will be decided on the day\u2019s two key ascents. With 62 kilometres to go, the legendary Jaizkibel appears, a 7,9-kilometre climb at 5,6 % that has long been a springboard for major attacks. Its gradients are not extreme, but accumulated fatigue and the proximity to the finish make it a strategic point.<\/p>\n

With barely any time to recover, the race heads to the chief arbiter of the 2026 edition: Erlaitz.This first-category ascent offers 3,8 kilometres at an average of 10,6 %, making it one of the steepest walls on the WorldTour calendar. Its ramps usually create major gaps and leave the race completely shattered. From the summit, a little over 45 kilometres remain to the San Sebasti\u00e1n finish, ideal terrain for long-range attacks and tactical moves.<\/p>\n

When many think the race is settled, one last obstacle remains: the Murgil wall. The final climb is 2,1 kilometres at 10,1 % and returns as the last big filter before the drop back into Donostia. Its explosive ramps have hosted some of the race\u2019s most memorable recent attacks and could decide the win again.<\/p>\n

After the summit, only eight kilometres remain. The blend of more than 4250 meters of elevation, seven categorized climbs, and an explosive finale once more makes the Cl\u00e1sica San Sebasti\u00e1n a perfect battleground for attacking climbers, puncheurs, and Grand Tour contenders.<\/p>\n

List of winners Cl\u00e1sica San Sebasti\u00e1n\u00a0YearWinnerSecondThird 1981 Marino Lejarreta (ESP) Graham Jones (GBR) Faustino Rup\u00e9rez (ESP) 1982 Marino Lejarreta (ESP) Jes\u00fas Rodr\u00edguez Magro (ESP) Pedro Delgado (ESP) 1983 Claude Criquielion (BEL) Antonio Coll (ESP) Reimund Dietzen (GER) 1984 Niki R\u00fcttimann (SUI) Reimund Dietzen (GER) Celestino Prieto (ESP) 1985 Adrie van der Poel (NED) I\u00f1aki Gast\u00f3n (ESP) Juan Fern\u00e1ndez Mart\u00edn (ESP) 1986 I\u00f1aki Gast\u00f3n (ESP) Marino Lejarreta (ESP) Juan Fern\u00e1ndez Mart\u00edn (ESP) 1987 Marino Lejarreta (ESP) \u00c1ngel Arroyo (ESP) Fede Etxabe (ESP) 1988 Gert-Jan Theunisse (NED) Enrique Aja (ESP) Steven Rooks (NED) 1989 Gerhard Zadrobilek (AUT) Francisco Antequera (ESP) Tony Rominger (SUI) 1990 Miguel Indur\u00e1in (ESP) Laurent Jalabert (FRA) Sean Kelly (IRL) 1991 Gianni Bugno (ITA) Pedro Delgado (ESP) Maurizio Fondriest (ITA) 1992 Ra\u00fal Alcal\u00e1 (MEX) Claudio Chiappucci (ITA) Eddy Bouwmans (NED) 1993 Claudio Chiappucci (ITA) Gianni Faresin (ITA) Alberto Volpi (ITA) 1994 Armand de Las Cuevas (FRA) Lance Armstrong (USA) Stefano della Santa (ITA) 1995 Lance Armstrong (USA) Stefano della Santa (ITA) Johan Museeuw (BEL) 1996 Udo B\u00f6lts (GER) Stefano Cattai (ITA) Massimo Podenzana (ITA) 1997 Davide Rebellin (ITA) Alexandr Gonchenkov (UKR) Stefano Colag\u00e8 (ITA) 1998 Francesco Casagrande (ITA) Axel Merckx (BEL) Leonardo Piepoli (ITA) 1999 Francesco Casagrande (ITA) Rik Verbrugghe (BEL) Giuliano Figueras (ITA) 2000 Erik Dekker (NED) Andr\u00e9i Chmil (BEL) Rom\u0101ns Vain\u0161teins (LAT) 2001 Laurent Jalabert (FRA) Francesco Casagrande (ITA) Davide Rebellin (ITA) 2002 Laurent Jalabert (FRA) Igor Astarloa (ESP) Gabriele Missaglia (ITA) 2003 Paolo Bettini (ITA) Ivan Basso (ITA) Danilo Di Luca (ITA) 2004 Miguel \u00c1ngel Mart\u00edn Perdiguero (ESP) Paolo Bettini (ITA) Davide Rebellin (ITA) 2005 Tino Zaballa (ESP) Joaquim Rodr\u00edguez (ESP) Eddy Mazzoleni (ITA) 2006 Xavier Florencio (ESP) Stefano Garzelli (ITA) Andr\u00e9i Kashechkin (KAZ) 2007 Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA) Juanma G\u00e1rate (ESP) Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 2008 Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Aleksandr Kolobnev (RUS) Davide Rebellin (ITA) 2009 Roman Kreuziger (CZE) Micka\u00ebl Delage (FRA) Peter Velits (SVK) 2010 Luis Le\u00f3n S\u00e1nchez (ESP) Alekszandr Vinokurov (KAZ) Carlos Sastre (ESP) 2011 Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Carlos Barredo (ESP) Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) 2012 Luis Le\u00f3n S\u00e1nchez (ESP) Simon Gerrans (AUS) Gianni Meersman (BEL) 2013 Tony Gallopin (FRA) Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Roman Kreuziger (CZE) 2014 Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Bauke Mollema (NED) Joaquim Rodr\u00edguez (ESP) 2015 Adam Yates (GBR) Philippe Gilbert (BEL) Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 2016 Bauke Mollema (NED) Tony Gallopin (FRA) Alejandro Valverde (ESP) 2017 Micha\u0142 Kwiatkowski (POL) Tony Gallopin (FRA) Bauke Mollema (NED) 2018 Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Bauke Mollema (NED) Anthony Roux (FRA) 2019 Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) Marc Hirschi (SUI) 2020 Cancelled \u2013 \u2013 2021 Neilson Powless (USA) Matej Mohori\u010d (SLO) Mikkel Honor\u00e9 (DEN) 2022 Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Pavel Sivakov (FRA) Tiesj Benoot (BEL) 2023 Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Pello Bilbao (ESP) Aleksandr Vl\u00e1sov (Neutral) 2024 Marc Hirschi (SUI) Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Lennert Van Eetvelt (BEL) 2025 Giulio Ciccone (ITA) Jan Christen (SUI) Maxim Van Gils (BEL) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The race quickly gained international traction and in 1985 none other than Adrie van der Poel was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[161418,4985,121993,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-716515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-clasica-san-sebastian","tag-cycling","tag-profiles","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}