It was held on 30 July 2011, over a distance of 234 km (145.4 mi), starting and finishing in San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, Spain.

Similar to his late race attacks to win the Ardennes classics earlier in the year, Omega Pharma–Lotto's Philippe Gilbert accelerated away from the pack with 4 km (2.5 mi) remaining[1] in the race and caught and passed Rabobank's Carlos Barredo on the road.

[2] Barredo, the 2009 Clásica de San Sebastián winner, finished second just ahead of a sprint finish for third place, won by Greg Van Avermaet for BMC Racing Team.

[3] As the race was held under the auspices of the UCI World Tour, all eighteen ProTour teams were invited automatically.

Three additional wildcard invitations were given – Andalucía–Caja Granada, Caja Rural and Geox–TMC – to form the event's 21-team peloton.