The peloton will be in Germany this Sunday, for the season’s 33rd World Tour event.
A bunch sprint? A reduced one? Or a solo attacker making it all the way to the finish line? All these have been seen in the past and are equally likely to happen at the 24th edition of the Cyclassics. Starting and finishing in Hamburg, and held over a distance of 216.7 kilometers, the race will see the peloton tackle the famous Waseberg climb (700 meters, 10% average gradient) on four occasions, thus giving the riders keen on avoiding a mass gallop the perfect opportunity to spread chaos in the pack and foil the sprinters’ plans, especially as the last ascent comes inside the final kilometers.
UCI World Team Classification leader Deceuninck – Quick-Step – who boasts three victories in the Cyclassics Hamburg since the squad’s inception – will come to the start of Sunday’s race with a seven-man outfit capable of being in the thick of the action regardless of the scenario and of fighting for a top result on the renowned Mönckebergstraße.
Elia Viviani, who has triumphed at the last two editions of Germany’s only World Tour event, will return at the start motivated to defend his title, sporting the European Champion jersey, which he won two weeks ago, in Alkmaar. Supporting Elia will be neo-pro Mikkel Honoré, Yves Lampaert, Danish Champion Michael Mørkøv, Fabio Sabatini, Florian Sénéchal and Petr Vakoč.
“We look with confidence towards this race, which suits well our European Champion, Elia. Our team is a strong one, with a solid lead-out train – comprising Saba, Michael, Yves and Florian – so that gives us hope we can come out of it with a nice result. There’s some pressure, we won’t hide that, but also other teams interested in a bunch gallop will be under the same pressure. In terms of parcours, as was the case so many times, Waseberg will be the most important point of the race, because things always get nervous there and it’s crucial to be in a good position last time up this climb, before the fast finish in Hamburg”, explained sports director Geert Van Bondt.
Photo credit: ©Alex Livesey/ Getty Images
