Image 1 of 46 After a perfectly timed attack late in the race, Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) has a moment to savor his San Sebastian victory. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 2 of 46 2012 San Sebastian victor Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) won with a late-race attack. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 3 of 46 2012 San Sebastian champion Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 4 of 46 Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) bounced back from a disappointing Olympics to win San Sebastian for the second time in three years. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 5 of 46 Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) has won the 2012 San Sebastian with a late-race solo attack. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 6 of 46 2012 Olympic gold medallist Alexander Vinokourov ahead of his last ever race in San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 7 of 46 The Astana riders line up in San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 8 of 46 Astana on their way to the start (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 9 of 46 BMC line up before the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 10 of 46 There were several breakaways throughout the day (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 11 of 46 Alejandro Valverde was looking for his second win at the Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 12 of 46 Garmin-Sharp (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 13 of 46 Orica-GreenEdge (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 14 of 46 by Guoqiang SongTour of Hainan (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 15 of 46 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) gives a pre-race interview (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 16 of 46 Rigoberto Uran (Sky) in action at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 17 of 46 Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 18 of 46 Spanish stars Samuel Sanchez and Alejandro Valverde before the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 19 of 46 Stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean greeted fans and riders in San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 20 of 46 Michael Rogers (Sky) leads the chasing pack at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 21 of 46 The pelton snakes towards the finish at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 22 of 46 Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) gives a pre-race interview (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 23 of 46 From left: Simon Gerrans, Luis Leon Sanchez and Gianni Meersman on the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian podium (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 24 of 46 The main peloton crosses the line at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 25 of 46 The moment of victory for Luis Leon Sanchez (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 26 of 46 Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) secured his seventh win of 2012 at the Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 27 of 46 Clasica de San Sebastian winner Luis Leon Sanchez is interviewed after the race (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 28 of 46 Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) and Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 29 of 46 Miguel Indurain and Marino Lejarreta await the finish at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 30 of 46 Victory was Luis Leon Sanchez's second at San Sebastian in three years (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 31 of 46 Luis Leon Sanchez is congratulated by runner-up Simon Gerrans at the 2012 Clasica de San Sebastian (Image credit: Susanne Goetze) Image 32 of 46 For the second time in his career, Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) has won in San Sebastian. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 33 of 46 The San Sebastian peloton ascends the Alto de Jaizkibel. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 34 of 46 The San Sebastian peloton makes its way up the Alto de Jaizkibel climb. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 35 of 46 Stunning scenery on the Alto de Jaizkibel climb. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 36 of 46 2011 Vuelta a Espana champion Juan Jose Cobo (Movistar) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 37 of 46 The peloton in action during the 2012 Clasica San Sebastian. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 38 of 46 Olympic champion Alexandr Vinokourov (Astana) is introduced prior to the start. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 39 of 46 Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 40 of 46 German champion Fabian Wegmann (Garmin-Sharp) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 41 of 46 Recently crowned Olympic road champion Alexandr Vinokourov (Astana) has a special jersey to commemorate his win. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 42 of 46 After competing in the omnium at the London Olympics, Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) returns to road racing at San Sebastian. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 43 of 46 The San Sebastian peloton rolls along early in the race. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 44 of 46 2012 Olympic road champion Alexandr Vinokourov (Astana) shows off his new jersey and bike. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 45 of 46 Olympic road champion Alexandr Vinokourov (Astana) has a gold bike and custom jersey to commemorate his victory in London. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 46 of 46 Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) celebrates his solo victory in the 2012 Clasica San Sebastian (Image credit: Sirotti)

Luis León Sánchez (Rabobank) won his second San Sebastian Classic with a daring attack inside the final 10 kilometres. The 2010 winner picked up his seventh win of the year, holding off a chase group of favourites. Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) finished second and Gianni Meersman (Lotto Belisol) third.

Sanchez made his move after the final climb of the race, seizing on a moment of hesitation as two groups merged on the descent Arkale. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Richie Porte (Team Sky) led a counter attack but their aggression was nullified and although Sanchez never had more than a 13 second lead he held on for his second San Sebastian title in three years.

Sanchez has arguably enjoyed his best season to date with a stage win in this year’s Tour de France to add to wins in Paris-Nice and Romandie. Today he showed his class as a rider, tentatively following the attacks on the day’s four climbs before going it alone. His Rabobank teammates attempted to nullify any further moves from the front and left Sanchez with plenty of time to celebrate in front of the Spanish crowd.

The early stages of the race were marked by a flurry of attacks. However it wasn't until the kilometre 35 before any break was successful. The veteran Adrian Palomares joined Javier Aramendia while the bunch were content to wait for the two ascents each over the Jaizikbel and Arkale. The pair established a lead of 12 minutes but Movistar, Sky and Katusha were slowly beginning to lay down their foundations, and by the lower slopes of the Jaizikbel the lead was under a minute. Movistar, eager to lay down a marker before the start of the Vuelta created most of the destruction, dislodging passengers from the peloton until a group of 50 remained.

Palomares and Aramendia were soon reeled in and it was Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Eros Capecchi (Liquigas) who were next with a succession of attacks. Their tactics thinned out the peloton further, although Tomasz Marcynski (Vacansoleil-DCM) was able to join them. They failed to establish a lead but Liquigas weren't done yet and Tiziano Dall'Antonia was their next rider to hear the order to attack through his earpiece.

Again, Marcynski joined the move and the pair created a minute of daylight between themselves and the bunch on the descent of the Arkale. Astana, working for Alexandre Vinokourov, and Lampre, working for Damiano Cunego and to stop Liquigas, formed a chase but as they began the approach to the Jaizkibel for the second and final time, Rigoberto Uran (Sky) surged ahead. Company came briefly from Sergio Paulinho (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) however the former Tour stage winner soon sat up.

The lead group of favourites included Vinokourov, Cunego, Jurgen van den Broeck, Sanchez, Bauke Mollema, Joaquim Rodriguez, Riche Porte and Alejandro Valverde.

On the descent of the Jaizikbel the lead changed again, with Sergio Henao (Team Sky) joining Marczynski, Rafael Valls Ferri, Gorka Izagirre Insausti and Rafal Majka.

Movistar organised the chase behind, pegging the five to 15 seconds before the final climb of the race. Henao, clearly the strongest of the five, accelerated on the climb, dropping the other four as the climbers in the peloton realised that their only chance of a win was evaporating in the Spanish heat.

Rodriguez sent a teammate to the front to wind things up and near the summit the Giro runner up attacked. However he was unable to create any serious gaps, with a number of riders able to mark him on the slopes.

The Katusha leader’s attack did bring Henao back and on the descent to San Sebastian there was a reforming as two groups of riders merged on the wide run-in. Sanchez immediately saw his chance, whipping through the gears and away from the field. Porte counter attacked but he was caught by Rodriguez and Mollema. With Rabobank blocking and Sanchez strong enough to maintain his advantage all the way to the line.

Full Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 5:55:34 2 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:00:07 3 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 4 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin - Sharp 5 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 6 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team 7 Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 8 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team 9 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Katusha Team 10 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 11 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 12 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin - Sharp 13 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 14 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 15 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 16 Nicholas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 17 Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 18 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 19 Rafaél Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 20 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 21 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 22 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 23 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 24 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 25 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 26 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 27 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 28 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:11 29 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:00:25 30 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:35 31 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:03:42 32 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 33 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 34 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural 35 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 36 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 37 Paul Martens (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team 38 Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col) Liquigas-Cannondale 39 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre - ISD 40 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 41 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 42 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha Team 43 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team 44 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 45 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 46 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol Team 0:04:52 47 Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel - Euskadi 48 Hernani Broco (Por) Caja Rural 49 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 50 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling 51 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 52 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 53 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 54 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 55 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 56 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 57 Bruno Pires (Por) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 0:06:08 58 Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre - ISD 0:08:10 59 Tiziano Dall'antonia (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 60 Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:09:58 61 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 62 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 63 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 64 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 65 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 66 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:16 67 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team 68 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:40 69 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:14:05 70 Christian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 71 José Vicente Toribio (Spa) Andalucia 72 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 73 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank 74 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling 75 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 76 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 77 Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 78 Adrián Palomares (Spa) Andalucia 0:17:14 79 Pablo Lechuga Rodriguez (Spa) Andalucia 80 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural 81 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 82 Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural 83 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 84 Jesús Rosendo (Spa) Andalucia 85 Antonio Cabello Baena (Spa) Andalucia 0:17:28 86 Javier Chacon (Spa) Andalucia