Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) took the WorldTour Clasica San Sebastian in the Basque Country in a solo effort, as written by Cyclingnews.
The 2014 Clasica San Sebastian podium: Bauke Mollema, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez. Photo: Cyclingnews
Belkin’s Bauke Mollema out-sprinted Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) for second place at 14 seconds back.
Rodriguez had attacked on the final climb, the Bordako Tontorra, and was joined at the head of affairs Valverde with 7km to go, the pair seeking to distance the chasers who were hot on their heels.
They failed to get enough of a gap, however, and at the start of the descent, Mikel Nieve (Team Sky), Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) and Bauke Mollema (Belkin) bridged across, making it five in front for the mad dash into town.
Valverde was taking big risks on the technical run-in, and the pressure caused Yates to make a critical error – the young rider crashed in a bend, opening up a gap behind Valverde in the leading group.
Valverde pushed all of his chips in, hurtling down the rest of the descent, then tackling the flat final 3km on his own, holding off the chase to capture his second victory in the Clasica of his career.
“If you gained a few meters on the climb, it was very difficult for your rivals to get back on the downhill,” Valverde explained.
Full Results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 5:31:11
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:14
3 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Team Katusha
4 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Team Sky
5 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Belisol 0:00:26
Teams
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Lampre-Merida 16:37:04
2 Movistar Team 0:00:08
3 Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:22
4 Garmin Sharp 0:00:27
5 Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:57
6 Lotto Belisol 0:01:24
7 Team Katusha 0:01:37
8 Team Europcar 0:01:46
9 Trek Factory Racing 0:02:38
10 Tinkoff-Saxo 0:03:21
11 Orica Greenedge 0:04:06
12 Astana Pro Team 0:04:16
13 AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:25
14 Team Sky 0:08:45
15 FDJ.fr 0:12:19
16 BMC Racing Team 0:14:14
17 Team Giant-Shimano 0:18:27
18 Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 0:22:40 – Cyclingnews
