‘I had to be patient’: Remco Evenepoel overcomes Jaizkibel puncture for historic win

The afternoon nearly unravelled for pre race favourite Remco Evenepoel on the fast and technical descent of the Jaizkibel.

A mechanical issue left the Belgian with a flat tyre at the worst possible moment. With the race heading towards the steep Erlaitz climb, he suddenly found himself almost two minutes behind the leaders.

Evenepoel stayed calm, although a brief moment occured with the Belgian became agitated with the race jury, who did not allow the Belgian to draft behind the convoy. "The jury wasn't really friendly today", Evenepoel said regarding the matter to Sporza.

He avoided wasting energy on a desperate chase through the valley. Instead, he trusted his teammates and carefully managed his effort to keep his race alive.

His team quickly stepped in. Giulio Pellizzari did much of the work at the foot of the Erlaitz, bringing Evenepoel back within reach of the front group. Maxim Van Gils sat up from the early breakaway to act as a crucial relay rider higher up the mountain.

“After the downhill of Jaizkibel, I had a flat tyre,” Evenepoel said after the finish.

“We know that Erlaitz is coming super quick, so I had to be patient. Giulio did a very good job on the bottom of Erlaitz to bring me as close as possible, and Maxim in the front was being patient, waiting for me.” 

Dispelling any initial speculation that he was off the pace during the ascent, Evenepoel clarified: “I was two minutes behind, so I was not struggling. I almost closed the gap on the climb, going faster than the guys in front. I just needed to pace myself because it was still a long way to go, and it was the good tactic.”

Having reconnected with the front group on the upper slopes of the Erlaitz, Evenepoel refocused his attention on securing victory. As the remaining contenders turned onto the brutally steep ramps of Murgil-Tontorra, where gradients pitch well above 18 percent.

The Belgian launched a single, devastating acceleration designed to break the lead group apart. Only EF Education-EasyPost rider Richard Carapaz possessed the explosive legs required to match Evenepoel over the summit, setting up a high-stakes, two-man battle on the technical run-in towards the Boulevard in San Sebastián.

Despite the physical toll of his early chase, Evenepoel remained confident in his finishing kick along the coast. Working smoothly with Carapaz to keep the chasing group at bay, he controlled the final kilometre before opening his sprint from the front to leave his Ecuadorian rival behind. 

“Richard was the only guy that could follow my attack on Murgil, so yeah, it was a very good sprint with him. When I launched, I quickly felt that I was going to win the sprint. I still had a super good feeling today, I was on a super good day. Unfortunately, the situation was a bit tricky for us with 50km to go, but we won. That is the most important thing.”

Evenepoel’s triumph along the Basque coast cements his place in the race's history, marking his fourth career victory at the Clásica San Sebastián and making him the most successful rider in the history of the event.

Yet despite adding another iconic Basque hat to his growing palmarès, the Belgian refused to dwell on history about claiming a ‘fifth’ mental victory. 

With the major target of his late-summer campaign rapidly approaching, Evenepoel’s thoughts immediately turned away from celebrating in San Sebastián toward a structured recovery phase and targeted training block aimed at reclaiming the UCI World Championship road race crown later this season. 

“Well, first, what is in my mind is some recovery, some rest,” Evenepoel concluded, looking ahead to his upcoming schedule. “And then I am going to build up to try and become world champion again,” Evenepoel concluded.