Remco wins a third “The classic” on his list. For the second consecutive year, Remco Evenepoel has just equaled the Basque Marino Lejarreta for the record number of victories in the Basque race. But then why does the world champion dominate this race so much? ?
Overwhelming domination
To start, let's remember his three victories, acquired each time thanks to his impressive offensive style. In 2019, for his first season in the professional peloton and therefore his first participation, while he is supposed to support Julian Alaphilippe (who will finally abandon the race), he won the Basque classic after escaping from the peloton around twenty kilometers from the finish to finally win alone.
Three years later, in 2022, it was the year of supremacy for the Belgian who won with almost two minutes in advance after a solo raid of 45 kilometers. This year, so he came back, world champion jersey on the back, with the status of grandissimo favorite. Which didn't bother him since he attacked from afar, without going out alone this time since he had to wait for the sprint to beat the local race Pello Bilbao, showing his progress on the final sprints. So, how can we explain such domination ?
Some factors that can explain this domination
First of all, Evenepoel has been arriving since 2019 at Clasica San Sebastian in top form. He is in full preparation for his end-of-season goals : the world championships, but especially the Vuelta. Who is, again this year, his main objective at the end of the season since he is putting his title back on the line. In front, competition that promises to be very tough. To return to peak form, in comparison, on the Classic San Sebastian, a certain number of riders come out of the Tour de France blunted. And therefore did not recover sufficiently from the three weeks to be able to compete with the Belgian. We remember in particular the abandonment of Tadej Pogacar last year who did not have the legs to influence the race.
Furthermore, it must be recognized that the classic Basque is cut for the qualities of Remco Evenepoel : it is a long, tiring and very hilly race with climbs that suit him perfectly with relatively short but extremely intense effort times where he can blow up all his opponents by imposing his infernal pace on the different climbs of the course.
So is Remco Evenepoel simply the strongest on the Basque classic or could a Tour de France-Clasica San Sebastian sequence be detrimental to him against opponents who would be fresher?, in addition to his sign as favorite grandissimo and runner to beat every year ? We could have an answer as early as next year, he who is announced at the start of the Grande Boucle.
