San Sebastian Classic 2008

Alejandro Valverde won the first classic after the Tour de France held on August 2 in the Basque region of Northern Spain - pictures

Valverde beats his breakaway companions - More pics in the gallery by fotoreporter sirotti

47 riders had moved away in the first part of the race, including Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre (CSC/Saxo Bank). This group then was cut to 40 before the infamous climb of the Jaizkibel at 20 kilometres to go.

David Moncoutie (Cofidis) then tried a solo break and the race saw a smaller group break free and from it Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) sprinted to victory.

Valverde thanked his Caisse d'Epargne team -: "This victory is for all a team and I do not know how to thank my companions for the work they carried out to permit me to obtain this first success in the Classic".

Valverde thought the race a little crazy - "Since almost all the favorites were in the lead group of head, we decided with Vladimir Karpets, to do everything possible to win. It cost us many effort, but thankfully I had enough left to win at the line."

CSC/Saxo Bank's DS Torsten Schmidt said - ”It was a great result by Alexandre today because it was a tough finale with all those strong profiles getting ready for the Olympics. He's extremely good at these tough finales and he came very close to winning out there today. Already in Austria he demonstrated that he's ready for this part of the season and I think we'll get to see a lot more of him over the coming months."

Damiano Cunego started the day as the leader of the ProTour was dropped from the lead group on the race deciding climb of the Jaizkibel and the Lampre manager Franco Ballerini said - "The effects of the bad crash from the Tour are still there." Cungeo said - "During the race I had bad feelings when the roads became tough: and when the effort was deep, I felt the symptoms which are are respiratory and a headache". Cunego wil miss the Olympics.

Valverde now leads the ProTour.

1 Alejandro Valverde Caisse d'Epargne 5.29.22 (239 km)
2 Alexander Kolobnev Team CSC / Saxo Bank
3 Davide Rebellin Gerolsteiner
4 Paolo Bettini Quick Step
5 Franco Pellizotti Liquigas
6 Denis Menchov Rabobank
7 Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel / Euskadi
8 Stéphane Goubert AG2R La Mondiale
9 Haimar Zubeldia Euskaltel / Euskadi @ 02
10 David Moncoutié Cofidis @ 02
11 Yaroslav Popovych Silence / Lotto @ 12
12 Joaquin Rodriguez Caisse d'Epargne @ 17
13 Thomas Voeckler Bouygues Telecom @ 54
14 Sylvain Chavanel Cofidis @ 1.03
15 David Arroyo Caisse d'Epargne @ 1.03

Website - http://clasica-san-sebastian.diariovasco.com/