Andy and Frank Schleck will headline the San Sebastian Classic on Saturday in the absence of newly-crowned Tour de France champion Cadel Evans. The Luxembourg brothers, who finished second and third respectively in the Tour de France behind the Australian, are among the challengers in the one-day race which also includes Belgian Philippe Gilbert and Spaniard Samuel Sanchez, sixth in France. Spaniard Alberto Contador, fifth in the Tour de France, will skip the San Sebastian race, but other contenders in the 31st edition will be reigning world champion Thor Hushovd, last year’s winner Luis Leon Sanchez, Oscar Freire and Joaquim Rodriguez. Italy’s Damiano Cunego and France’s Sylvain Chavanel are also possible challengers.
The one-day race which starts and finishes in the streets of the Guipuzcoa capital is exactly the same as last year – covering 234km and featuring six climbs including the category one Jaizkibel which the riders must mount twice. “Last year’s course proved to be a success so we decided to stick with it again,” race organiser Jaime Ugarte told AFP. This fact gives reigning champion Leon Sanchez, 27, reason to feel confident despite finishing just 57th in the Tour de France where he won stage nine. “It’s a route that suited me well last year. The start is quite fluid but then the race becomes leg breaking,” he explained. “I think I’m in good condition physically depite the Tour which was quite testing. “But with rivals of the calibre of Samuel Sanchez and Philippe Gilbert, the level looks set to be high. And of course there are also the Schleck brothers.”