Julian Alaphilippe wins Clasica San Sebastian

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Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) carried his superb Tour de France form into this weekend, winning the San Sebastian Classic after a two-up sprint with Bauke Mollema (Trek Segafredo). The pair escaped on the final climb of the race and were never in danger of being caught by a chase group that contained many of the other pre-race favourites.

Alaphilippe and Mollema established a 30-second lead inside the final 8km of racing and the Frenchman controlled the sprint from start to finish, with Mollema forced to settle for second. Anthony Roux (FDJ) finished third.

The race was overshadowed by a crash with just under 20km remaining. Both Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Mikel Landa (Team Movistar) were placed in neck-braces and taken to hospital.

For Alaphilippe the win cemented his ever-growing reputation as one of cycling's most multi-talented riders. The Frenchman won two stages and the king of the mountains jersey at the Tour de France, and can came into San Sebastian as a leading contender.

"I knew that the race suited my characteristics, but I honestly didn’t expect to win today," Alaphilippe said. "I didn’t feel very good, as I was tired after a long and hard Tour de France, but stayed focused in the final and made my effort at the right time, using the last climb as launch pad.

"I want to say a big thank you to my teammates, who protected and helped me throughout the day, believing in my chances. I am very happy after this win, because San Sebastian is a special race which I like a lot and it means a lot to conclude this part of the season with another beautiful victory."

The race effectively came down to a battle on the final climb after several early breaks were neutralised thanks to work from BMC Racing, Astana, Trek Segafredo and Bahrain Merida. The penultimate ascent of the Arkale softened up the remnants of the main bunch but it was Mollema - a previous winner - and his Trek teammates who took control on the final climb of Murgil Tontorra. The Dutchman's team thinned out the bunch to less than 20 riders before Astana moved to the front.

However, it was LottoNL Jumbo's talented young climber Antwan Tolhoek who created the first significant split with Rudy Mollard the only rider able to match the young Dutchman as the road began to rise to over 15 per cent.

Bahrain Merida looked to bring the pair back but with the leaders in sight, Mollema made his attack and quickly moved into the race lead. Just as the Dutchman looked to be in ascendancy Alaphilippe made contact, with a trailing Van Amermaet and the rest of the bunch unable to respond.

"I felt good," Mollema said. "But then on the top Alaphilippe was with me. We worked well together – it was one kilometer flat at the top, so we went pretty fast there and had a big gap already. And then we went down also fast and then it was just the two of us, but you know he is also fast in the sprint. I tried to hang on a bit and let him do the work the last 2kms especially, but still, he was faster than me."

The leading duo established a 15-second lead at the top of the climb and that soon doubled thanks to their combined efforts on the descent, and a lack of collaboration from the chasers. With the line in view, Alaphilippe moved to the front before using his convincing sprint to take another impressive win.

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