BiciRace.com :: 2006 Clásica San Sebastián

2006 Clásica San Sebastián, Preview

Clásica San Sebastián, Spain

12 August, 225K

La Clásica Donostiarra

Profile, Startlist, Photos
Report and Results
2005 Results

Zaballa in the Txapela after 2005 Win, photo: Graham Watson, Saunier Duval

Last week it was Hamburg, Germany, this week the pro peloton will rendezvous in San Sebastián, Spain as professional cycling continues its march towards determining the overall ProTour winner for 2006.

Lining up on the fashionable streets of San Sebastián are the 20 teams comprising the ProTour. Joining them as wild cards are two Spanish squadras: Relax-GAM and Kaiku. The inclusion of these two teams should provide the race with ample action in the earlier stages. When the proverbial hammer goes down my guess is that they will be nowhere to be seen.

The San Sebastián parcours is certainly no sprinters fest, like Paris-Tours one month later, however, the hills the organizers have thrown in will most likely not be enough to split the peloton completely. At kilometer 193 the toughest of the day's climbs, the category 1 Jaizkibel, will rear its ugly head. Though there are still 32 kilometers to the finish, so at the most this climb should whittle down the bunch and force a small bunch sprint.

Following the Jaizkibel, at kilometer 211, is the category 3 Alto de Gurutze. The group that makes it over the top of the Alto de Gurutze first will need to have a decent advantage over the peloton as there are still 14 kilometers of racing left to the line.

Schleck wins on l'Alpe d'Huez, photo: www.ciclismovitamia.it

OK, so lets cut to the chase. Who is going to win? Down at the BiciRace.com HQ we have put our heads together and come up with a list of riders we think will stand out. Topping the list is Alejandro Valverde. The Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears rider should be fresh since he didn't really ride the Tour de France. Likewise, Alexander Vinokourov (Astaná) will certainly have an axe to grind after getting left out in the cold before the Tour. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) is on smoking-hot form as evidenced by a pair of stage wins in the Tour and a win in the recent Hamburg Cyclassics. Our dark horses are Fränk Schleck (Team CSC), Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital) and Cristian Moreni (Cofidis).

Come 12 August keep your browser locked on BiciRace.com for full race details and analysis. Hasta pronto!
- Paco

Past Winners:
2005 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
2004 Martin Perdiguero
2003 Paolo Bettini
2002 Laurent Jalabert
2001 Laurent Jalabert
2000 Erik Dekker
1999 Francesco Casagrande
1998 Francesco Casagrande
1997 Davide Rebellin
1996 Udo Bolts
1995 Lance Armstrong
1994 Armand De las Cuevas
1993 Claudio Chiappucci
1992 Raul Alcalá
1991 Gianni Bugno
1990 Miguel Indurain
1989 Gerarde Zadrobilek
1988 Gert Jan Theunisse
1987 Marino Lejarreta
1986 Iñaki Gastón
1985 Adri Van Der Poel
1984 Niki Rutiman
1983 Claude Criquelion
1982 Marino Lejarrera
1981 Marino Lejarreta