Bet on cycling

The Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian-San Sebastian really is a one-day classic on the UCI ProTour calendar and kicks off the post Tour de France races in July.

The race traditionally starts near the tourist-packed Playa de la Concha beach in San Sebastian. However while the holidaymakers can enjoy themselves sunbathing, the riders face a tough day in the saddle.

The route covers difficult roads through the Basque hills meaning 230km of testing racing for the peloton. Early climbs inspire breakaways, but the decisive attacks usually come on the slopes of the Alto de Jaizkibel climb that is only 38km from the finish. It includes two difficult sections where teams force a selection and try to get their best riders in the front group so they can fight for victory in the hectic run-in to San Sebastian.

Heavy rain rendered the race particularly difficult in 2009 and perhaps explained why two riders managed to escape from the leading group.

Spain’s Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) took the biggest win so far in his career by outsprinting the Czech rider Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) after a convoluted finale that saw lots of individual attacks, crashes and new bunches forming. Indeed, Barredo only caught Kreuziger in the final kilometre and had to pull out all the stops to beat him in the sprint.

The major favourites will be hoping the weather is much kinder this year. Many will come with the three-week Tour de France in their legs but will hope that the hard racing will give them an edge on riders who focused on training in July. Spanish riders are always the favourites on home roads and Barredo will surely be up there again, along with Alberto Contador (Astana), Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi).