Big names headline Clásica start list

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain (VN) — An all-star start list headlines the 31st running of the Clásica San Sebastián in northern Spain on Saturday.

The Schleck brothers, Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), defending champion Luis León Sánchez and Rabobank teammate Oscar Freire, Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha), Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov (Geox), Philippe Glibert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Ryder Hesjesdal (Garmin-Cervélo) are among the top names confirmed for the 234km race across the green hills of Spain’s Basque Country.

Luis León Sánchez said he’ll do his best to defend his title, but admitted the route favors Gilbert and Samuel Sánchez, who both come out of the Tour de France in top shape.

“You never know how you’re going to do until the race kicks off, but the problem is that there are two riders – Gilbert and Samu — have come flying out of the Tour and the route really favors them,” Sánchez said. “The Jaizkibel will decide the race. It’s dangerous to arrive with riders like Gilbert or Samu, so you’ll have to try to attack to have chances. There’s usually a small group arriving together.”

Start list for the 31st Clásica San Sebastián:

RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM

• Dir. Dep.: VAN HOUWELINGEN, Adri
• 1. SANCHEZ, Luis León
• 2. FREIRE, Oscar
• 3. BRESCHEL, Matti
• 4. WEENING, Pieter
• 5. BARREDO, Carlos
• 6. TANKINK, Bram
• 7. WYNANTS, Maarten
• 8. TEN DAM, Laurents

TEAM RADIOSHACK

• Dir. Dep.: BRUYNEEL, Johan
• 31. ZUBELDIA, Haimar
• 32. IRIZAR, Markel
• 33. McCARTNEY, Jason
• 34. BEPPU, Fumiyuki
• 36. DEIGNAN, Philip
• 37. HERMANS , Ben
• 38. SELANDER, Bjorn

BMC RACING TEAM

• Dir. Dep.: SAYERS, Mike
• 61. KOHLER, Martin
• 62. KROON, Karsten
• 63. VAN AVERMAET, Greg
• 64. FRANK, Mathias
• 65. TSCHOPP, Johann
• 66. MOINARD, Amaël
• 67. EIJSSEN, Yannick
• 68. ZAHNER, Simon

KATUSHA TEAM

• Dir. Dep.: CHIESA, Mario
• 91. RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin
• 92. TROFIMOV, Yury
• 93. KARPETS , Vladimir
• 94. HORRACH, Joan
• 95. LOSADA, Alberto
• 96. MORENO, Daniel
• 97. VORGANOV, Eduard
• 98. GUSEV, Vladimir

LIQUIGAS – CANNONDALE

• Dir. Dep.: ZANATTA, Stefano
• 121. BASSO, Ivan
• 122. CARUSO, Damiano
• 123. MAURO, Dadalto
• 124. FINETTO, Mauro
• 125. KOREN, Kristijan
• 126. LONGO, Paolo
• 127. PONZI, Simone
• 128. SZMYD, Sylvester

AG2R LA MONDIALE

• Dir. Dep.: JURDIE, Julien
• 151. ROCHE, Nicolas
• 152. MINARD, Sébastién
• 153. LOUBET, Julien
• 154. KADRI, Blel
• 156. BONNAFOND, Guillaume
• 157. DESSEL, Cyril
• 158. DUPONT, Hubert

GEOX – TMC

• Dir. Dep.: MATXIN, Joxean
• 181. SASTRE, Carlos
• 182. MENCHOV, Dennis
• 183. ARDILA, Mauricio
• 184. COBO, Juan José
• 185. DE LA FUENTE, David
• 186. FELLINE, Fabio
• 187. GUTIERREZ, David
• 188. VALLS, Rafael

HTC – HIGHROAD

• Dir. PEIPER, Allan
• 12. BRAMMEIER, Matt
• 13. GHYSELINCK, Jan
• 14. GRETSCH, Patrick
• 15. GRASBACH, Bert
• 16. ROULSTON, Hayden
• 18. VELITS, Peter

LAMPRE – ISD

• Dir. Dep.: VICINO, Bruno
• 41. CUNEGO, Damiano
• 42. PEREZ, Aitor
• 43. GAVAZZI, Francesco
• 44. KOSTYUK, Denys
• 45. BERTAGNOLLI, Leonardo
• 46. PIETROPOLLI, Daniele
• 47. BONO, Matteo
• 48. MORI, Manuele

SAXO BANK SUNGARD

• Dir. Dep.: FROST, Dan
• 71. PORTE, Richie
• 72. GUSTOV, Volodymir
• 73. VANDVORG, Brian
• 74. NAVARRO, Daniel
• 75. STEENSEN, André
• 77. HERNANDEZ, Jesus
• 78. CHRISTENSEN, Mads

PRO TEAM ASTANA

• Dir. Dep.: MARTINELLI, Giuseppe
• 101. GRYVKO, Andriy
• 102. DI GREGORIO, Rémy
• 103. DAVIS, Allan
• 104. FOFONOV, Dmitriy
• 105. IGLINSKIY, Maxim
• 106. JUFRE POU, Josep
• 107. TIRALONGO, Paolo
• 108. STANGELJ, Gorazd

MOVISTAR TEAM

• Dir. Dep.: ARRIETA, José Luis
• 131. ROJAS, José Joaquin
• 132. FARIADA COSTA, Rui
• 133. LOPEZ , David
• 134. ERVITY, Imanol
• 135. HERRADA , Jose
• 136. GARCÍA, José Vicente
• 137. LASTRAS, Pablo
• 138. PARDILLA, Sergio

QUICK STEP CYCLING TEAM

• Dir. Dep.: BRAMATI, Davide
• 161. CHAVANEL, Sylvain
• 162. PINEAU, Jérôme
• 163. DE WEERT, Kevin
• 164. DEVENYNS, Dries
• 165. ENGELS, Addy
• 166. BANDIERA, Marco
• 168. VERMOTE, Julien

CAJA RURAL

• Dir. Dep.: ARTETXE, Xabier
• 191. CUESTA, Iñigo
• 192. HERRADA, José
• 193. MORENO, Javier
• 194. MORA, Arturo
• 195. GARCIA, Egoitz
• 196. SANCHEZ, Julian
• 197. ROMERO, Igor
• 198. FERRARI, Fabricio

LEOPARD-TREK

• Dir. Dep.: ANDERSEN, Kim
• 22. SCHLECK, Frank
• 23. MONFORT, Maxime
• 24. GENDEMANN, Linus
• 25. LUND, Anders
• 26. FUGLSANG, Jakob
• 27. DENIFL, Stefan
• 28. STAMSNIJDER, Tom

OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO

• Dir. Dep.: ELIJZEN, Michiel
• 51. GILBERT, Philippe
• 52. VANENDERT, Jelle
• 53. DEBUSSCHERE, Jens
• 54. DE HAES, Kenny
• 55. DOCKX, Gert
• 56. KAISEN, Olivier
• 57. LODEWYCK, Klaas
• 58. NEYENS, Maarten

SKY PROCYCLING

• Dir. Dep.: PORTAL, Nicolas
• 81. APPOLLONIO, Davide
• 82. BARRY, Michael
• 83. KNEES, Christian
• 84. CIONI, Dario
• 85. GERRANS, Simon
• 86. AUGUSTYN, John Lee
• 87. URAN, Rigoberto
• 88. ZANDIO, Xabier

TEAM GARMIN – CERVELO

• Dir. Dep.: FERNANDEZ, Bingen
• 111. KLIER, Andreas
• 112. MILLAR, David
• 113. DEAN, Julian
• 114. HESJEDAL, Ryder
• 115. WILSON, Mattew
• 116. RASCH, Gabriel
• 117. FISCHER, Murilo
• 118. VAN SUMMEREN, Johan

EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI

• Dir. Dep.: GLEZ. DE GALDEANO, Alvaro
• 141. SANCHEZ, Samuel
• 142. IZAGUIRRE, Gorka
• 143. ISASI, Iñaki
• 144. PEREZ, Rubén
• 145. OROZ, Juan José
• 146. URTASUN, Pablo
• 147. PEREZ, Alan
• 148. LANDA, Mikel

VACANSOLEIL-DCM TEAM

• Dir. Dep.: CORNELISSE, Michel
• 171. DE GENT, Thomas
• 172. DEVOLDER, Stijn
• 173. BELKOV, Maxim
• 174. LEUKEMANS, Björn
• 175. VEUCHELEN, Frederil
• 176. RUYGH, Rob
• 177. SELVAGGI, Mirko
• 178. VAN LEIJEN, Joost

ANDALUCIA – C. GRANADA

• Dir. Dep.: CABELLO, Antonio
• 201. BENITEZ, José Alberto
• 202. LOBATO, Juan José
• 203. PIEDRA, Antonio
• 204. TORIBIO, José Vicente
• 205. BERNABEU, Vicente David
• 206. PALOMARES, Adrián
• 207. RUIZ, Eloy
• 208. RAMIREZ, Javier