Tiesj Benoot and Cian Uijtdebroeks put up a fierce fight for Visma | Lease a Bike in the Basque Country

Benoot had to let Maxim Van Gils of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe take third place in the sprint, while the victory went to Lidl-Trek rider Giulio Ciccone. “I’ve recovered well from the Tour de France. Clásica San Sebastián is always a tough and honest race, so I’m happy that I was able to show myself again,” said Benoot.

“For a long time, I thought I’d take third, but Van Gils passed me just before the line. That stung a bit, but I’m definitely pleased with this result. We can look back on a strong team performance. It was also great to see Cian immediately performing in a race of this calibre,” he said.

Uijtdebroeks was also more than happy after making his comeback after more than three months. “I felt good from the start. On the Erlaitz, I was just a little too far back when Roglič attacked. I had to dig deep to close the gap, but I managed it just after the top. I ended up in the chasing group with Tiesj. On the final climb, I decided to do some work for him, and he was able to sprint for the podium.”

“I’d already been feeling good in training over the past few weeks, but translating that into a race is something else,” Uijtdebroeks added. “I started without too many expectations, but things definitely turned out positively. The course suited my strengths well. I hope to carry this good feeling into the next races, starting with the Tour de l’Ain,” said Uijtdebroeks.