Louis Meintjes and Diego Ulissi to lead charge at the hilly post-Tour Classic

United Arab Emirates. Tuesday, 25 July 2017:  UAE Team Emirates is thrilled to announce its rider line up for the 37th edition of Clásica de San Sebastián, taking place on Saturday 29th July. 

Amongst the UAE Team Emirates line-up are riders who have recently competed in  the Tour de France, including; South African rider and eighth place Tour finisher, Louis Meintjes, Italians Diego Ulissi and Matteo Bono, and Croatian Kristijan Durasek. Joining the riders will be UAE’s Yousif Mirza, Italians Simone Petilli and Edward Ravasi and Slovenian, Jan Polanc.

The Basque Country route, which starts and finishes in the Spanish costal city of San  Sebastián, boasts an impressive 231km distance and is traditionally a race that favours the climbing specialists. The riders will take in eight climbs in total, including; the Meaga, the Alto Iturburu, the Alkiza, the Alto de Jaizkibel and the Alto Arkale - climbing the latter two twice in today’s race before crossing the finishline in San Sebastián. 

Commenting on his Clásica de San Sebastián debut, Italian Diego Ulissi said: “This will be my first time participating at the Clásica de San Sebastián directly after the Tour de France. I am keen to try and make the most out of my good form and the momentum I garnered during the Tour so that I can remain competitive towards the end of the race too. I am aware that the competition is strong but I believe the selected team is up to the challenge and I would like to aim for a top result.” 

Confirming the line-up, UAE Team Emirates’ Sporting Director Simone Pedrazzini said: “In this year’s lineup for Clásica de San Sebastián, there are riders who have just finished the Tour de France. We are aiming to encourage these riders to make the most out of their good form. Ulissi and Meintjes are our main contendors, however we will be counting on the rest for their support. Some of the other riders such as Mirza, Petilli, Polanc and Ravasi are trained in altitude and they’ll be useful for the break aways.”