Lucy Kennedy wins women’s Clásica San Sebastián with double attack following puncture

The Australian took victory in the first ever women's edition of the race
Jonny Long

Lucy Kennedy (Mitchelton-Scott) took victory in the inaugural women’s edition of the Clásica San Sebastián.

The Australian had to attack twice after a puncture neutered her first attack, eventually finishing 20 seconds ahead of Janneke Ensing (WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling) in second and Pauliena Rooijakkers (CCC-Liv) in third.

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Her team-mates Annemiek van Vleuten and Amanda Spratt finished nearly five minutes down, in 16th and 18th place respectively.

With 35km to go a chase group were 15 seconds behind when Kennedy punctured, dragging her back as Ensing surged forward and opened up a gap of more than a minute with 20km to go.

Team-mate Georgia Williams joined Kennedy in the chase group, the New Zealander working hard to bring the gap back to within 30 seconds.

Kennedy then reeled in and passed Ensing on the final climb of the day, which reached gradients of 16 per cent, pulling clear with 8km to go and maintaining her advantage to cross the finish line first.

Results

Women’s Clásica San Sebastián 2019

1. Lucy Kennedy (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott, in 3-38-04
2. Janneke Ensing (Ned) WNT-Rotor, at 23 seconds
3. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned) CCC-Liv, at 1-04
4. Anastasiia Pliaskina (Rus) Cogeas-Mettler, at same time
5. Edwige Pittel (Fra) Cogeas-Mettler, at 1-06
6. Lourdes Oyarbide (Esp) Movistar, at 1-12
7. Ahreum Na (Kor) Alé Cipollini, at 1-38
8. Kathrin Hammes (Ger) WNT-Rotor
9. Hanna Nilsson (Swe) BTC City Ljubljana, both at same time
10. Alessia Vigilia (Ita) Valcar Cylance, at 2-04