Dan Martin was among the strongest at Clasica San Sebastian. However, it was Julian Alaphilippe who took victory.
Dan Martin’s hopes of a win in Spain were not realised today, though he was in the shake-up at the San Sebastian Classic.
Tour de France king of the mountains Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) broke clear in the closing stages.
And it was the young Frenchman who won; denying Mollema a second victory in the event.
While there was plenty of aggression in the 229km race starting and finishing in San Sebastian, all of the escapes were neutralised before the final climb.
And it was up that ascent, of the Murgil Tontorra, that the race was won and lost; as is often the case.
Mollema attacked hard and Alaphilippe clawed his way across before they combined to pull out a winning gap.
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Bauke Mollema y Alaphilippe atacan. Persiguen Izagirre, Van Avermaet. Nótese como Mollema le pide permiso a Mollard para atacar por la falta de espacio. #Klasikoa pic.twitter.com/CCmaJ6ngEc
— Johan Giraldo (@JohanGiraldo) August 4, 2018
Before it reached the final climb, Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Mikel Landa (Movistar) had crashed hard.
They came down with about 20km to race and were both stretchered away by ambulance and in neck braces.
While Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) was within a much thinned out peloton at the start of the final climb, none of the favourites could match Alaphilippe and Mollema.
And while Anthony Roux (Groupama-FDJ) led home a nine-man group some 16 seconds behind the winner, Martin was not in it.
Instead, he trailed home alone some 27 seconds later to take 12tth place on the day.
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