A hard day out under the Spanish sun saw the peloton take on Clásica San Sebastián on Saturday. A challenging parcours that included traditional climbs such as Jaizkibel and Erlaitz lay ahead of them, but also a brand new final climb of Pilotegi; which averaged over 11 percent for two kilometres with the last kilometre included long stretches over 20 percent.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were active from the start and after lots of attacks in the peloton, a break of ten eventually managed to escape that included Warren Barguil. However, they were only giving an advantage that peaked at three minutes and as the bunch started the climb of Jaizkibel they were all but caught. Over the ascent the bunch thinned down with Romain Bardet, Gijs Leemreize, Chris Hamilton and Kevin Vermaerke left in the front group; before the pace ramped up once more on Erlaitz. There some strong attacks were made and Vermaerke rode strongly, cresting the climb in a group of eight which trailed the then solo leader Sivakov.
Things regrouped and a few more riders came back, as they tackled the descent and flatter roads through the finish line, before turning off towards the brutally steep final climb. On the lower slopes of Pilotegi, Sivakov was reeled in and the group split to pieces. Vermaerke dug deep, grinding his way up the climb as one-by-one riders dropped from the group. Vermaerke himself eventually had to let go of the wheels close to the summit, riding as fourth rider on the road. Sending it down the descent and pushing to the line on the flat, Vermaerke would cross the finish in San Sebastián in fourth place; securing his best WorldTour one-day race result of his career with the team.
Vermaerke said: “It was a good race. It was a long travel from Norway to get here so I felt a little tired yesterday but knew I had really good shape. I’ve been steadily getting better the last three weeks and knew if it was a hard race then it would suit me a bit better than the stages in Norway. I could really save energy in the first half of the race. The guys did really well to cover moves and be in the break with Warren. They positioned me perfectly coming onto the Jaizkibel. From there I just always stayed in the front with Romain and Chris, coming into the second last climb where the selection was made. I felt pretty comfortable making that second group behind Sivakov. When we caught him just before the final climb, I rode my own pace to the top. I just couldn’t quite hold the wheels in the last few hundred metres of the climb. I felt really strong today and slowly but surely making progress in the races. Fourth place is one off the podium, but I think we can all be proud of how we rode today as a team, and I’m really looking forward to my next races now.”
