Image 1 of 19 The 2013 Clasica San Sebastian podium (L-R): Alejandro Valverde, Tony Gallopin and Roman Kreuziger (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 2 of 19 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) soloed to victory at the Clasica San Sebastian after attacking on the final climb. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 3 of 19 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) earns the biggest victory of his career at the 2013 Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 19 Moreno Moser (Cannondale) took the sprint for 7th place at Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 5 of 19 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) sports the traditional Txapela on the podium after winning Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 6 of 19 The peloton in action during the 2013 Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 7 of 19 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) alone in the lead at Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 8 of 19 Richie Porte (Sky) comes to grief on the wet tarmac at the Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 9 of 19 Nairo Quintana set a scintillating pace on the final ascent of the Alto de Jaizkibel in support of Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 10 of 19 2013 Clasica San Sebastian champion Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 11 of 19 Podium hijinks commence for the top three finishers of the Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 12 of 19 Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) on the attack (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 13 of 19 2013 Clasica San Sebastian champion Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 14 of 19 Clasica San Sebastian runner-up Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) congratulates race winner Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 15 of 19 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) outsprinted Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) for second place at Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 16 of 19 Dario Cataldo (Sky) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 17 of 19 Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) earned the biggest victory of his career at the Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 18 of 19 2013 Clasica San Sebastian champion Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 19 of 19 2013 Clasica San Sebastian podium (L-R): Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Tony Gallopin (RadioShack Leopard) and Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) (Image credit: Sirotti)

Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Leopard) outfoxed and outperformed some serious competition to take a well-deserved solo victory at the Clasica San Sebastian.

The 25 year-old Frenchman was riding the Basque one-day race for the first time in his career but was part of the decisive 13-rider selection that formed over the Jaizkibel climb and then attacked alone on the final Arkale climb 15km from the finish. Using some impressive time trial skills, he managed to hold off a five-rider chase group all the way to the finish to celebrate his first major classic victory.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) won the sprint for second place ahead of Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff), Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Mikel Landa (Euskaltel-Euskadi). However they were 28 seconds down on the Frenchman.

Gallopin was stunned to win alone and enjoyed his moment on the podium and pulling on the traditional Basque Txapela beret.

"I like one-day Classics and I felt super, super good today," he said.

"This is the first time I've ridden the Clasica but I was up front and felt good. I'm really happy to have beaten riders of the calibre of Alejandro Valverde and Roman Kreuziger. This a super result for me."

Strength on the climbs

Gallopin rode a superb race and the Tour de France gave him the strength to handle the climbs of the Jaizkibel and the subsequent Arkale.

Both the Movistar and Euskaltel-Euskadi teams were targeting victory and rode to control the early four-rider breakaway formed by Olivier Kaisen (Lotto Belisol), Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida), Matthias Krizek (Cannondale) and Francisco Aramendia (Caja Rural).

They opened an 11-minute gap early on but were caught and dropped on the second climb of the Jaizkibel after Movistar drove hard to the foot of the climb. Suddenly Nairo Quintana took over, riding on the front for Valverde and the two cut through the breakaway and formed the front group that would fight for victory. Quintana eventually sat up, convinced he had done his work, but that left Valverde on his own.

Kreuziger, Roche, Nieve, Landa, Moreno Moser (Cannondale) and a few others made it in the move on the two parts of the Jaizkibel but other big-name riders missed it Despite some fierce chasing, Belkin failed to get Bauke Mollema across and Team Sky also missed the attack, with Richie Porte and Dario Cataldo stuck in the chase group.





Gallopin had two teammates in the 13-rider front group but did not hesitate and attacked alone mid-way up the Arkale. Roche and Landa tried to chase but only split the chasers into two groups.

Saxo-Tinkoff had Roche and Kreuziger, while Euskaltel-Euskadi had Nieve and Landa. Valverde was also there and did some turns. However the five were unable to pull back Gallopin and even lost time on a flat highway to San Sebastian.

Gallopin blasted over a late rise and had a 30-second gap when he turned onto the seafront and began to celebrate the biggest, but surely not the last, Classic win of his career.

Full Results 1 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 5:39:02 2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:28 3 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 4 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:00:29 6 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:36 7 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:51 8 Pieter Serry (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 9 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 10 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 11 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 12 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 13 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14 Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 15 Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard 0:00:53 16 Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:17 17 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:55 18 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 19 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 20 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha 21 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:02:22 22 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) Lampre-Merida 23 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 24 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 25 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:31 26 Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol 0:02:44 27 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:03:12 28 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 29 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha 30 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 31 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:03:13 32 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:03:16 33 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 0:03:19 34 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard 35 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:20 36 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 37 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:04:05 38 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 39 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Sky Procycling 40 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 41 Francois Parisien (Can) Team Argos-Shimano 0:04:40 42 Caleb Fairly (USA) Garmin-Sharp 43 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 44 Thomas Damuseau (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano 45 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 46 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 47 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge 48 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 49 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 50 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 51 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 52 Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 53 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard 54 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 55 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 56 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 57 Stijn Devolder (Bel) RadioShack Leopard 58 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 59 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha 60 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha 61 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha 62 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:06:34 63 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr 64 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack Leopard 65 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 66 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin-Sharp 67 Stefano Agostini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 68 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 69 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 70 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 71 Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 72 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida 73 Egor Silin (Rus) Astana Pro Team 74 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 75 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol 76 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 77 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 78 Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 79 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 80 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:12:24 81 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:13:14 82 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 83 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Sharp 84 Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol 85 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 86 Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 87 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida 88 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 89 Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 90 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 91 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 92 Ian Boswell (USA) Sky Procycling 93 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 94 Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Sky Procycling 95 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:17:48 96 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin-Sharp 97 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:20:10 98 Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:21:23 99 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 100 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano 101 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol DNS Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Belkin Pro Cycling Team DNF Jack Bobridge (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team DNF Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team DNF Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge DNF Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge DNF Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge DNF Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge DNF Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol DNF Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol DNF Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Lotto Belisol DNF Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team DNF Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team DNF Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team DNF Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team DNF Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida DNF Luca Dodi (Ita) Lampre-Merida DNF Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre-Merida DNF Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale DNF Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale DNF Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale DNF Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr DNF Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr DNF Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr DNF Laurent Mangel (Fra) FDJ.fr DNF Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr DNF Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff DNF Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff DNF Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff DNF Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp DNF Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp DNF Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team DNF Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team DNF Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC Racing Team DNF Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team DNF Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team DNF Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step DNF Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step DNF Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step DNF Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Katusha DNF Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Katusha DNF Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha DNF Federico Canuti (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling DNF Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling DNF Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling DNF Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling DNF Joshua Edmondson (GBr) Sky Procycling DNF Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling DNF Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling DNF Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team DNF Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team DNF William Clarke (Aus) Team Argos-Shimano DNF Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano DNF Yann Huguet (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano DNF Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Argos-Shimano DNF Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

Mountain 1 - Alto Garate (Cat. 2) 29.4km 1 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 6 pts 2 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 4 3 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 2 4 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1

Mountain 2 - Alto de Jaizkibel (Cat. 1) 157km 1 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 10 pts 2 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 8 3 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 6 4 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 4 5 Jack Bobridge (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 2 6 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1

Mountain 3 - Alto de Arkale (Cat. 2) 178.6km 1 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 6 pts 2 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 4 3 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha 2 4 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1

Mountain 4 - Alto de Jaizkibel (Cat. 1) 196km 1 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 10 pts 2 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 8 3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 6 4 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 4 5 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 2 6 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr 1

Mountain 5 - Alto de Arkale (Cat. 2) 217.5km 1 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 6 pts 2 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 4 3 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1

Sprint 1 - Azpeitia, 50km 1 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 3 pts 2 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 2 3 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 1

Sprint 2 - Andoain, 116km 1 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 3 pts 2 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 2 3 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 1

Sprint 3 - Irun, 169.3km 1 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 3 pts 2 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 2 3 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 1

Sprint 4 - Oiartzun, 181.4km 1 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 3 pts 2 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 2 3 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1

Sprint 5 - Irun, 208.5km 1 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 3 pts 2 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 2 3 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1

Sprint 6 - Oiartzun, 220.4km 1 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 3 pts 2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 2 3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1

Mountains classification 1 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 22 pts 2 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 14 3 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 12 4 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 12 5 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 11 6 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 8 7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 6 8 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 9 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 2 10 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha 2 11 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 1 12 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1

Sprint classification 1 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 11 pts 2 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard 5 3 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol 4 4 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 3 5 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida 3 6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 2 7 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1 8 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 9 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1