Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will not compete in the San Sebastian classic, one of the top one-day events on the UCI ProTour, which takes place on Saturday in northern Spain.
The Spaniard’s name was not on the list of the Astana team for the race, a 237-kilometre mountainous course that begins and ends in the Basque city.
Among the 188 riders from 19 teams competing are Spaniards Carlos Sastre, the 2008 Tour de France winner, Oscar Freire and Australians Cadel Evans and Allan Davis.
Other top finishers from this year’s Tour will be the Schleck brothers from Luxembourg, Andy and Frank.
This year’s San Sebastian race has added interest in that 80 points will be up for grabs on the UCI ProTour, double the number previously.