Gallopin wins Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian

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Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Leopard) outfoxed and outperformed some serious competition to take a well-deserved solo victory at the Clasica San Sebastian.

The 25 year-old Frenchman was riding the Basque one-day race for the first time in his career but was part of the decisive 13-rider selection that formed over the Jaizkibel climb and then attacked alone on the final Arkale climb 15km from the finish. Using some impressive time trial skills, he managed to hold off a five-rider chase group all the way to the finish to celebrate his first major classic victory.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the sprint for second place ahead of Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff), Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Mikel Landa (Euskaltel-Euskadi). However they were 28 seconds down on the Frenchman.

Gallopin was stunned to win alone and enjoyed his moment on the podium and pulling on the traditional Basque Txapela beret.

"I like one-day Classics and I felt super, super good today," he said.

"This is the first time I've ridden the Clasica but I was up front and felt good. I'm really happy to have beaten riders of the calibre of Alejandro Valverde and Roman Kreuziger. This a super result for me."

Strength on the climbs

Gallopin rode a superb race and the Tour de France gave him the strength to handle the climbs of the Jaizkibel and the subsequent Arkale.

Both the Movistar and Euskaltel-Euskadi teams were targeting victory and rode to control the early four-rider breakaway formed by Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol), Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida), Matthias Krizek (Cannondale) and Francisco Aramendia (Caja Rural).

They opened an 11-minute gap early on but were caught and dropped on the second climb of the Jaizkibel after Movistar drove hard to the foot of the climb. Suddenly Nairo Quintana took over, riding on the front for Valverde and the two cut through the breakaway and formed the front group that would fight for victory. Quintana eventually sat up, convinced he had done his work, but that left Valverde on his own.

Kreuziger, Roche, Nieve, Landa, Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and a few others made it in the move on the two parts of the Jaizkibel but other big-name riders missed it Despite some fierce chasing, Belkin failed to get Bauke Mollema across and Team Sky also missed the attack, with Richie Porte and Dario Cataldo stuck in the chase group.

Gallopin had two teammates in the 13-rider front group but did not hesitate and attacked alone mid-way up the Arkale. Roche and Landa tried to chase but only split the chasers into two groups.

Saxo-Tinkoff had Roche and Kreuziger, while Euskaltel-Euskadi had Nieve and Landa. Valverde was also there and did some turns. However the five were unable to pull back Gallopin and even lost time on a flat highway to San Sebastian.

Gallopin blasted over a late rise and had a 30-second gap when he turned onto the seafront and began to celebrate the biggest, but surely not the last, Classic win of his career.