The Tour is done and dusted but that doesn't mean that the WorldTour has come to a halt. On the contrary, we head into a very hectic weekend which both offers the big revenge match between the Tour's climbers in Spain's biggest one-day race, the Clasica San Sebastian, and the first two mountain stages in the Tour de Pologne which kicks off in Italy and has gathered most of the Vuelta stars that didn't race the Tour. Starting at 14.40, you can follow the battles on CyclingQuotes.com/live where we will first bring you all the action from the Clasica San Sebastian. As soon as that race is over, you can follow the drama in the Tour de Pologne.
Spain is mostly known for its stage races and has never put much emphasis on one-day races and classic riders. However, there is one big classic in the big country on the Iberian peninsula, the Basque Clasica Sebastian. The 232km take in some hilly terrain and contain two ascents of the famous Alto de Jaizkibel inside the final 80 km of the stage. From the last passage, three small climbs await on the mostly flat run-in to the finish in the holiday city San Sebastian and it usually is the scene of some thrilling racing when the highly reduced group of favourites is constantly under attack on the flat stretch towards the finish line.
As usual, the race has attracted a number of the best riders from the Tour and among the riders from the top 10, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador, Roman Kreuziger, Bauke Mollema, Jakob Fuglsang, Alejandro Valverde and Andrew Talansky will all take to the start line in the Basque Country. Starting at 14.40 you can follow the race here.
As soon as the Spanish race has finished, we will concentrate on the first stage of the Tour de Pologne which kicks off in Italy with the first of two consecutive mountain stages. A long, flat opening stretch will be an opportunity to warm up the legs ahead of the category 1 Fai Della Paganella climb (10,8km, 7,0%). A long, gradual descent leads to the uncategorized Passo Del Bollino which is followed immediately by the category 2 Passo del Durone (5km, 6,1%) which has an 18% section near its top. A fast descent leads to the bottom of a long, gradually ascending stretch and then it is time to start the category 1 Madonna di Campiglio climb (11km, 5,9%) which has the finish line located at its top. Those numbers are a little bit deceptive as the first part of the climb has a constant gradient around 6,5%-7% while the final two kilometres are much easier with an average gradient of 2,6%.
Most of the Vuelta stars that didn't race the Tour, are on the start list and among those, the Giro champion Vincenzo Nibali is of course the biggest name. The Italian has made it clear that he is not in the race to win it and so the winner could very well be a Sky rider. Bradley Wiggins makes his comeback in the Polish race and has a habit of always targeting the win. The final 39km time trial suits him perfectly. He has formidbale support from Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran who prepare themselves to lead the British team in the Spanish grand tour.
You can follow the first stage here as soon as the Clasica San Sebastian has finished. With a late 18.30-19.00 finish, you won't miss anything from the drama on the final climb to the finish.
You can read CyclingQuotes' previews here and here.
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