Etixx - Quick-Step to Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian

Thursday 30 July 2015 - 19:30

Etixx - Quick-Step has announced the selection that will participate in 219km Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian on Saturday, the 1st of August.

The Spanish, UCI WorldTour one-day race is one for the climbers, and the peloton will include some of the top GC contenders of Le Tour de France. The 2015 profile consists of three climbs of 1st Category, three climbs of 2nd Category, and several uncategorized ascents. The big test will be Bordako Tontorra (Category 2), a late race climb of 2.5km of 9% average gradient, with several steep ramps of about 20 percent. There is then 7.1km of descending into a flat finale.

The 2014 edition was won by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), while Zdenek Stybar finished 10th.

Stybar returns to the race in 2015, along with Julian Alaphilippe, Pieter Serry, Matteo Trentin, Rigoberto Uran, Stijn Vandenbergh, Julien Vermote, and Martin Velits.

"We have a nice team at the start of this race," Sport Director Tom Steels said. "At the start will be riders like Uran and Stybar, that come from the Tour de France and can be protagonists in a race with this kind of profile. With them we can also count on riders like Pietery Serry, who showed his condition in Tour de Wallonie, and a fresh rider like Julian Alaphilippe who comes back into competition after a few weeks off. We will see how far he can go. The rest of the team is strong and compact, and will be able to play a role. Our goal is to be there in the final with as many riders as we can, and try to go for a good result."