Remco Evenepoel won the 2026 Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa, beating Richard Carapaz in a two-up sprint in San Sebastián after the pair broke clear on the final ascent of Murgil Tontorra.
The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider claimed a record fourth victory in the Basque one-day race, moving clear as the most successful rider in the history of the Klasikoa. Evenepoel had already won in 2019, 2022 and 2023, but this was the hardest and most complicated of the four after an untimely puncture forced him to chase back at a key point in the race.
Carapaz finished second for EF Education-EasyPost after being the only rider able to follow Evenepoel’s decisive acceleration on the final climb, while Ben Tulett completed the podium after winning the sprint from the chase group.
A hard route built for a late selection
The 45th edition of the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa gave the peloton 221.1 kilometres in and around San Sebastián, with seven categorised climbs and a familiar final pattern of attrition before the race returned to the city.
The route took in Kalbario, Azkarate, Urraki and Alkiza before the longer final circuit brought the Jaizkibel and Erlaitz into play. Jaizkibel, at 7.9 kilometres and 5.6 per cent, began the serious reduction. Erlaitz, only 3.8 kilometres long but averaging 10.6 per cent, gave the race its most selective pre-finale climb.
Then came Murgil Tontorra, the final climb of the day. At 2.1 kilometres and 10.1 per cent, it was short, steep and placed close enough to the finish to decide the race. San Sebastián so often comes down to this equation: survive the long climbs, hold position into Murgil, then have enough left to attack or follow when the road kicks hardest.
Evenepoel lined up after finishing second overall at the Tour de France, where he had won at Plateau de Solaison and dominated the stage 16 time trial. Carapaz arrived from the same race in superb form, having won two stages and the polka-dot jersey in the final week. Defending champion Giulio Ciccone was also on the start line, as was former winner Marc Hirschi.
It was a post-Tour Classic, but not a race for riders simply looking to ease back into competition.
Eight riders form the early break
After several short-lived attacks, the day’s breakaway formed inside the opening 30 kilometres. Tim Rex of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Iñigo Elosegui of Equipo Kern Pharma, Ådne Holter of Uno-X Mobility, Valentin Ferron of Cofidis, Lorenzo Quartucci of Burgos Burpellet BH, Nicolás Alustiza of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Nickolas Zukowsky of Pinarello-Q36.5 and Joan Bou of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA made up the eight-rider move.
The group gave the race its early structure, with the peloton allowing them space before the harder climbs arrived. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe kept responsibility behind for Evenepoel, aware that this was a race where control matters, but also one where overcommitting too early can leave a team short later.
With 70 kilometres remaining, the break still had close to 2 minutes on a reduced peloton. The race was still balanced, but the decisive phase was approaching quickly.
The early attackers had earned their place in the race, but with Jaizkibel, Erlaitz and Murgil still ahead, the front of the race was always likely to be reshaped.
Jaizkibel begins the real selection
As the race approached the final climbs, Rex and Quartucci pushed on from the breakaway, distancing their companions, while Elosegui tried to hang on behind.
The main group began to move as well. Over Jaizkibel, four strong chasers emerged: Bart Lemmen of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Maxim Van Gils of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Michael Leonard of EF Education-EasyPost and Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
That quartet caught and passed most of the early break, with only Rex and Quartucci still ahead, creating a reshuffled front group of six. It was the first clear sign that the favourites’ teams were not prepared to wait until Murgil without testing the race.
The move also had tactical value. Van Gils gave Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe a rider ahead for Evenepoel. Leonard gave EF a link for Carapaz. Lemmen gave Visma a presence, while Vine put UAE into the action before the steeper climbing to come.
By the time the race hit Erlaitz, the day had shifted from breakaway management to favourites’ positioning.
Evenepoel forced to chase after puncture
Evenepoel’s race became more complicated after the descent of Jaizkibel, when he suffered a puncture at a dangerous moment. With Erlaitz coming quickly, the timing could hardly have been worse.
In San Sebastián, a mechanical there can ruin a race. The groups are smaller, the roads are harder and the pace rises sharply before the steep climbs. Evenepoel had to stay calm, chase back and trust his team to keep the race within reach.
He later described this as the hardest of his four San Sebastián wins.
“Fourth was the hardest, the most tricky,” Evenepoel said after the finish. “It was the most difficult one of all four.
“After the downhill of Jaizkibel, I had a flat tyre. We know that Erlaitz was coming up super quick, so I had to be patient. I have to thank my team for all the work, of course. Giulio Pellizzari did a very good job on the bottom of Erlaitz to bring me as close as possible, and Maxim was being patient in the front waiting for me.
“So, in the end, I had to finish off the work of my teammates. What a day and a beautiful victory again.”
That chase back changed the texture of the win. Evenepoel did not simply dominate from a perfect position. He had to recover from a disruption, use teammates at the right time and still deliver the decisive move.
Erlaitz reshapes the front of the race
On Erlaitz, the earlier front group was broken up again. Van Gils was the only rider left out front before the strongest climbers and contenders came across.
Ciccone, Matteo Jorgenson and Louis Barré of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Carapaz, Paul Double of Jayco AlUla, Felix Gall and Léo Bisiaux of Decathlon CMA CGM, Mathys Rondel of Tudor Pro Cycling and Enric Mas of Movistar emerged as the new leaders of the race.
Behind them, Evenepoel joined a chase group containing Darren Rafferty, Jan Christen, Kevin Vermaerke, Jhonatan Narváez, Pello Bilbao, Bjorn Koerdt, Gianmarco Garofoli and Ramses Debruyne.
It was a dangerous moment for the Belgian. The race was ahead, the favourites were spread across two groups and Murgil was coming. But the flat section before the shorter final circuit allowed the groups to reconnect.
That regrouping was crucial. Evenepoel was back in the race before the decisive climb, and Van Gils was there to help position him. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had absorbed the mechanical scare without letting the race slip away.
UAE lead into Murgil but Narváez fades
The reduced peloton entered the final circuit with the race still open. UAE Team Emirates-XRG led onto the lower slopes of Murgil, looking to position Narváez and keep their options alive.
But as the climb began to bite, Narváez struggled to hold the front. Evenepoel, on Van Gils’ wheel, was perfectly placed. Carapaz was also in position, as was Gall, with Ciccone, Barré and others trying to stay close.
The climb did what Murgil usually does. It stripped away numbers quickly and forced the strongest riders to show themselves. There is little room for bluffing on a 10 per cent average gradient this close to the finish.
Evenepoel waited for the right section, then went.
Evenepoel attacks, Carapaz follows
Evenepoel launched his decisive acceleration with 8.7 kilometres to go, partway up Murgil Tontorra. It was sharp, committed and immediately selective.
Only Carapaz could follow.
That pairing instantly became the race. Evenepoel had the power and the history in San Sebastián. Carapaz had the form and climbing sharpness from a Tour de France final week where he had been one of the most aggressive riders in the race.
Behind them, Ciccone and Barré were distanced on the climb but tried to come back on the descent and run-in. Other riders later joined the chase, but the front two had enough of a gap and enough quality to keep the race in their hands.
Once Evenepoel and Carapaz crested Murgil together, the Klasikoa was effectively reduced to a two-rider contest.
Carapaz takes the fight to the finish
Carapaz did not sit passively on Evenepoel. The Ecuadorian worked with him on the run-in and then led the pair into the final kilometre.
Evenepoel took over on the front, but Carapaz moved back ahead with several hundred metres remaining, trying to control the approach to the sprint. It was a smart play. Evenepoel had the faster finish on paper, but after a hard race, a mechanical chase and a steep final climb, Carapaz had reason to test him.
The chase behind was close enough to keep pressure on the front pair, but not close enough to change the winner. The sprint would decide it.
Carapaz opened the final phase from the front, but Evenepoel came around him before the line. It was not a long-range solo, not a demonstration from distance, but a controlled two-up finish after a messy and physically demanding race.
For Carapaz, second place continued an excellent summer. He had carried his Tour de France form straight into the Basque Country and was the only rider able to match Evenepoel on the decisive climb. The difference came only in the sprint.
Evenepoel makes San Sebastián history
Evenepoel crossed the line first to win the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa for a fourth time, claiming the outright record for most victories in the race.
That record matters because of what this race has meant to his career. His 2019 win was a breakthrough performance. The 2022 and 2023 victories confirmed San Sebastián as one of the races most naturally suited to him. The 2026 win moves it into a different category: a race he now owns historically.
It also showed another version of Evenepoel’s strength. In previous editions, his San Sebastián victories have often been built around separation and distance. This one required patience after a puncture, teamwork to regain position, tactical timing on Murgil and then a sprint against one of the strongest climbers of the summer.
There was no sense of a rider coasting on post-Tour form. Evenepoel had to fight for this one, which probably made the fourth win more satisfying than any of the previous three.
Tulett wins the chase for third
Behind Evenepoel and Carapaz, Ben Tulett sprinted to third place from the chase group, giving Team Visma | Lease a Bike a podium in one of the hardest one-day races of the summer.
Tulett’s result came after Visma had been active throughout the decisive phase. Rex was in the early break, Lemmen bridged over Jaizkibel, while Jorgenson and Barré were part of the important selection over Erlaitz. They did not have the rider who could match Evenepoel and Carapaz on Murgil, but they remained one of the strongest collective presences in the race.
Ciccone, the defending champion, was among the riders who tried to respond after Murgil, but the move had gone. Once Evenepoel and Carapaz were together over the top, the chase needed either perfect cooperation or hesitation up front. It got neither.
Tulett’s podium reflected the strength of the chase, but also the clarity of the winning move. The two best riders on Murgil finished first and second.
A different kind of Evenepoel win
This was not the most visually dominant of Evenepoel’s San Sebastián victories, but it may have been the most complete.
He had to recover from a flat tyre after Jaizkibel, rely on Pellizzari and Van Gils to restore his position, survive the reshuffling over Erlaitz, then execute the move on Murgil exactly when the race demanded it.
That sequence says a lot about the depth of his performance. The best one-day riders are not just the ones who can attack. They are the ones who can absorb problems and still have the confidence to act decisively when the race reaches its critical point.
Carapaz ensured that Evenepoel had no free run to the finish. He matched the attack, worked to the line and forced the sprint. But Evenepoel had the final answer, and with it a record that may stand for a long time.
Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa 2026 result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
