Adam Yates wins Clasica San Sebastian after late solo attack

Adam Yates was initially unsure that he had won the Clasica San Sebastian

Britain's Adam Yates claimed the biggest win of his career with a superb solo victory at the one-day Clasica San Sebastian in Spain.

The 22-year-old Orica-GreenEdge rider, from Bury, attacked on the day's final climb, with around 7.5km remaining, and hung on down the descent to the finish to win by 15 seconds from runner-up Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) and third-placed Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

Yates thought there were riders ahead of him on the road and it was not until he was well past the finishing line that he was informed he had won and started celebrating.

Yates was joined on the podium by Philippe Gilbert (left) and Alejandro Valverde (right)

His previous biggest win was overall victory at last year's Tour of Turkey, but given that the Clasica San Sebastian is a UCI WorldTour event, Saturday’s triumph is now the standout result on his palmares.

Yates, who is the first British winner of the Clasica San Sebastian in its 35-year history, said: “Incredible. I won, but I didn’t know I had won.

“I spoke on the radio to my sport director, but because of the crowds, the radio was too quiet. On the final climb, there was a breakaway still up the road. Then there was a lot of carnage on the climb, there was a crash with a motorbike, and so I just went full gas. At the time I didn’t know if I had reached the lead or not.

Yates launched his winning attack with around 7.5km remaining

“For sure this is the biggest win of my career. And it’s my first victory this year.”

The race crested six categorised climbs over its 219km distance, but the peloton was all together as it tackled the final ascent, the Bordako Tontorra.

Yates attacked around 500m from the summit and was allowed to open up a gap by the likes of Valverde, the defending champion, and Joaquim Rodriguez.

The two Spaniards subsequently formed part of a chase group also containing Gilbert, Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing), Rigoberto Uran (Etixx - Quick-Step) and Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo), but they did not work together and Yates was able to pull away.

Yates held off a group of chasers to win by 15 seconds

He had the race all but won by the time he entered the final 500m, but he was speaking to his team staff on the radio all the way to the finish line and it was not until later that he was told of the result.

The win makes amends for last year's race, when Yates formed part of a small leading group on the descent to the finish but later crashed heavily.

Yates' twin brother and team-mate, Simon Yates, finished 14th.

Result

1 Adam Yates (GB) Orica-GreenEdge, 5:30:22

2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing, +15secs

3 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, same time

4 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, st

5 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, st

6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing, st

7 Dan Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin, st

8 Julian Alaphillipe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step, st

9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Alpecin, st

10 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step, st