August 16, 2026
The World Tour peloton descends on Hamburg for another edition of the Cyclassics presented by ADAC. It's a sprint heavy line-up but with a distance covering 205 km, there is always room for surprises, like we saw last year. Starting in Buxtehude, the route makes a semi-circle to the South and East before making a b-line North across the Elbe River and into Hamburg's city center. Once in the city, the riders will enter a circuit which is completed three times. The lap is more or less a stick with a little loop of the Waseberg circuit on the end before coming back to the finish line the same way they went out. On the second and third lap, the riders will have to complete two Waseberg circuits before returning to the finish, making five total Waseberg laps. The route is mostly flat with the exception of the Tafelberg (800M at 4%) and the subsequent Waseberg itself which is 700 meters at 9%. It doesn't sound like a lot but the last ascent comes 15 km from the finish which will test the metal of the sprinters who will want a one-day World Tour race on their palmares.
Highlighted Riders
Dylan Groenewegen, Arnaud De Lie, Paul Magnier, Laurence Pithie, Arne Marit, Luca Mozzato, Jonathan Milan, Biniam Girmay, Davide Toneatti, Søren Wærenskjold, Kaden Groves, Jensen Plowright, Olav Kooij, Milan Fretin, Phil Bauhaus, Michael Matthews, Noah Hobbs, Luke Lamperti, Paul Penhoët, Orluis Aular, Pavel Bittner
Race Summary
A beautiful day greeted the riders as they signed-on in front of thousands of admiring fans with pleasant temperatures hovering around 22C (72F). A moment of silence was given at the start to pay respect to Finlay Tarling who tragically lost his life during the Volta a Portugal two days ago. When the flag dropped to send the riders on their way, a group of six went clear including Jonas Rutsch of Lotto Intermarché, Benjamin Thomas of Cofidis, Dries De Pooter of Jayco AlUla, Niklas Behrens and Loe van Belle of Visma-Lease a Bike, and Filip Maciejuk of Movistar. Just before live coverage began, a crash took down Dries De Bondt and his Jayco AlUla teammate Michael Matthews as well as Mattia Agostinacchio of EF-Education EasyPost, and only De Bondt continued in the race of the three fallers. When we got to see live pictures, there was 123 km remaining and the break had 4 minutes 20 seconds on the peloton that was being led by Lidl-Trek.
With the Tefelberg/Waseberg combination just ahead, teams moved up into position which blocked the entire width of the generously wide road. There didn't seem to be too much anxiety in the bunch but no one wanted to miss the action if it did kick off. Netcompany-Ineos set the pace towards the top of the climb and made it quick enough to hurt those at the back but not quick enough to really stretch the peloton. Lidl-Trek remained in good position and took back the pace making duties as they made their way to the finish line for the first time. By the passage of the finish line, Soudal Quickstep and Decathlon CMA CGM had joined in the chase and the gap was down to 3 minutes 20 seconds.
Through Hamburg, the crowds were large as the race passed some of the landmarks of the city including the Hauptbahnhof, Hamburger Kunsthalle, and the Alster Fountain. The bunch got very busy with 84 km to go as they made their way back out to the Waseberg circuit. Most of the roads out of Hamburg were reasonably wide but also residential with a fair amount of traffic furniture and pinch points to watch out for. All of the positioning increased the speed and by the Waseberg for the second time with 77.5 km to go, the gap was down to 2 minutes 40 seconds.
Thomas led the break over the top while behind, Netcompany-Ineos and UAE-XRG sent Brandon Rivera and Benoît Cosnefroy on the attack. Rivera could not match the power of Cosnefroy but the Colombian managed to latch on to Tim Rex of Visma-Lease a Bike and Brent Van Moer of Pinarello Q36.5 who came across to Cosnefroy to make four chasers. More attacks chipped off the front of the peloton but Lidl-Trek were able to calm things down. There was little time to breathe however because the third trip over the Waseberg was coming quickly.
The Cosnefroy group started the Waseberg about 10 seconds ahead of the peloton and around 90 seconds to the original riders in the break. Rex was fully committed and sprinted up the climb which distanced Rivera but the peloton had closed to within 5 seconds by the top. 20 riders split off the front of the bunch caused primarily by Visma-Lease a Bike who seemed like they had a plan to seed chaos within the race. Rex was caught over the top and the group of 20 were brought to heel but the peloton was in single file and threatening to snap at any moment. Before the sprint teams could get control, Florian Vermeersch of UAE-XRG and Gianni Vermeersch of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe snuck out of the peloton and were charging into the gap on the long roads leading back into Hamburg for the penultimate time.
Thomas led the break through the bell at the finish line with 50.5 km to go. They had 1 minute 25 seconds on the two Vermeersch's and around 15 seconds more on the peloton being towed by Decathlon CMA CGM, Uno-X Mobility, and Lidl-Trek. Florian and Gianni Vermeersch were caught with 47 km to go as Soudal Quickstep and NSN Cycling joined the chase ahead of the last two passages of the Waseberg.
With 40.5 km to go, the first discord in the break away appeared and the group split in half with Thomas, Maciejuk, and van Belle going away from the other three. The weak link in the group was De Pooter and once Behrens and Rutsch got rid of the Belgian, they were able to bridge back up to make five at the front. The wide suburban roads leading back to the Waseberg allowed teams to drag race each other for position with at least seven teams spread shoulder to shoulder. The process of half-wheeling each other slowly brought the gap to the break down, hitting 1 minute with 32. 5 km to go, around 5 km from the penultimate ascent of the climb.
Up front, Thomas attacked on the climb and was followed by Rutsch. The pair went together over the top still with around 50 seconds of an advantage but Behrens and van Belle did not give up. They made their way back on and quickly into the rotation to keep as much of a gap as possible into the last ascent of the Waseberg. Bahrain Victorious led the peloton onto the climb and they stretched the group but no real separation was made. Soudal Quickstep started riding over the top to discourage attacking while also allowing the sprinters to catch their breath and re-position for the final ascent. The speed was rapid back around the circuit and by the start of the final Waseberg ascent, the leaders had just 17 seconds on the peloton who were racing like the finish was at the bottom of the climb.
The four leaders swung left onto the Waseberg while UAE-XRG were setting things up for an attack out of the bunch. Florian Vermeersch pulled off at 500 meters from the top and left Isaac del Toro to launch his move. It was a hard effort but the climb was simply not long enough to make any difference and the majority of the peloton was still connected. Thomas and Rutsch were the last ones standing but were caught about 1 km after the top and the race was back together. Del Toro tried once more through a technical section but everyone was keen and straight on the wheel. Unibet Rose Rockets attempted a counter attack but the indefatigable Benjamin Thomas had more to give to his Cofidis teammates and brought the move back on his own.
The director switched camera shots to group two on the road and in it was Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek and Olav Kooij of Decathlon CMA CGM who were distanced on the climb. The good news for them was that they were only 15 seconds off the leading peloton at 11 km to go and had teammates there to do the chasing. In the front, Uno-X Mobility had taken over driving the group with Søren Wærenskjold safely tucked in. Also in the front was Soudal Quickstep with Paul Magnier, Arnaud De Lie of Lotto Intermarché, and Noah Hobbs of EF-Education EasyPost.
With 7 km to go, the gap was still 12 seconds and time was running out to make the catch. 3 km later, the gap was unchanged and it was becoming less likely that Milan, Kooij, and the others would contest the finish. Soudal Quickstep were responsible for a lot of the driving in the front in these kilometers but also Visma-Lease a Bike even though the Dutch squad had no pure sprinter in the team. Around 50 riders were in the front and they all started to move up with 2.5 km to go to position for the finish. Soudal Quickstep was best organized and led coming into 1 km to go. Jasper Stuyven gave all he had and dropped Magnier off on the wheels of the Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe train with around 500 meters to go. Laurence Pithie of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe was launched with 200 meters to go but he already had Magnier sprinting beside him at that point and could not match the acceleration of the Frenchman. The first to get on Magnier's wheel was Mike Teunissen of XDS-Astana but there was no chance of coming around Magnier who looked imperious in his effort and form. He stormed to the finish with a clean set of wheels as he hit the line. Teunissen was next best on the day in second with Pithie in third and Paul Penhoët of Groupama-FDJ United in fourth.