How to Watch the 2023 Clásica de San Sebastián
Something of an anomaly, as it is a one-day Classic smack in the middle of the Grand Tour season, the Clásica de San Sebastián is a mid-summer delight.
The race—which courses over many of the same Basque Country roads as the opening stages of this year’s Tour de France and will feature many of the Tour’s biggest names—goes off this Saturday, July 29. The field will be rounded out by plenty of one-day specialists and a few riders who broke onto the scene this spring.
At a brutal 230.3-kilometers with seven climbs totaling more than 4,000 vertical meters, San Sebastián is one of the most punishing of all the one-day races on the WorldTour calendar. And after the 2023 Tour de France’s foray into Basque Country just a few weeks ago, expect the usually rabid Basque fans to be even more engaged in this year’s race.
How to Watch 2023 Clásica San Sebastian
Race fans in the United States have a rare abundance of choice when it comes to watching this year’s San Sebastián, as the race will be broadcast on both GCN+ and FloBikes.
Be sure to set your coffee pot timer, though, as the race starts at 5 a.m. ET.
Who We’re Watching
Two-time San Sebastián champion Remco Evenepol of Soudal Quick-Step is back this year to attempt his third win in four years. After abandoning the Giro d’Italia early this spring, Evenepoel finished third in the Tour de Suisse before winning the Belgian national championship in the road race.
Though he crashed in the closing kilometers of Tuesday’s Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia, a 1.1 race held in the Basque Country, Ineos Grenadiers’ youngster Juan Ayuso has had a strong year after finishing third in last year’s Vuelta a España. Barring any mishaps, we expect him to fight at the front as the race splinters over the climbs.
American Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost is the only man who’s beaten Remco Evenepoel at San Sebastián in the last four years (no race was held in 2020), winning the race in 2021. However, despite his early success in this year’s Tour de France and his days spent in the polka dots, his last week in Le Tour was a bit inauspicious. Hopefully, a week off has restored his climbing legs.
This year's Tour de France fourth-place finisher Simon Yates of team Jayco AlUla will also be in the bunch on Saturday, hoping to use his climbing legs to launch an attack over the Alto de Jaizkibel, a climb synonymous with the race.
Of course, he might aim to save his legs, as there are still three climbs—a category one and a pair of category twos—between the bottom of the Jaizkibel and the finish line. Still, it’s on the slopes of the Jaizkibel where this race is often decided.
Some of the 2023 Tour de France’s other top finishers, like stage winners Ineos Grenadier Carlos Rodriguez and Pello Bilbao of Bahrain-Victorius, will also be in the mix. And keep an eye on Cofidis’s Victor Lafay, whose Tour stage win came in San Sebastián.
Finally, look for EF Education-EasyPost’s Ben Healy—who arguably made the biggest splash in bike racing this spring—to launch one of his now-trademark long-distance attacks.
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