Egan Bernal will start the Clásica San Sebastián this weekend as Tour de France champion.
The Team Ineos rider will be back in the peloton on Saturday (August 3), a week after he confirmed his position as the first Colombian Tour winner.
Bernal will ride the Spanish one-day race alongside a squad of talent from the British outfit.
>>> Clásica San Sebastián 2019 start list
Also lining up for Ineos will be Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar, Ivan Sosa and Wout Poels.
There will be plenty of competition for the Sán Sebastian title, including reigning champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step).
Other contenders include Quick-Step’s Remco Evenepoel, Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team), and Simon and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).
The race covers 226km of hilly terrain in the Basque Country, ith seven categorised climbs along the course, including the 1.9km-long 10.8 per cent average Murgil Tontorra in the final 10km, the race is well suited to puncheurs and quicker climbers.
Alaphilippe heads into the Sán Sebastián after a career-defining run at the Tour de France, wearing the yellow jersey for 15 days and coming within two stages of victory.
But Bernal emerged victorious âfter an unmatchable climbing display in the Alps, taking the race lead on the penultimate mountain stage, and carrying the jersey to Paris.
It is only Bernal’s second year at WorldTour level and he won the Tour at only his second time in the race, aged 22.
Bernal’s team-mates Eddie Dunbar and Colombian Ivan Sosa, 22 and 21 respectively, add more promising opportunities for Team Ineos in Spain, as Dunbar has reached the podium multiple times this year, while Sosa has won at the Route d’Occitanie this year.
Team Ineos squad for the Clásica San Sebastián 2019
Egan Bernal (Col)
Jonathan Castroviejo (Esp)
David De La Cruz (Esp)
Eddie Dunbar (Irl)
Kenny Elissonde (Fra)
Wout Poels (Ned)
Ivan Sosa (Col)
