Excitement in Hamburg! Top sprinters fall 10 meters short of catching early breakaway rider Townsend (Q36.5)

Whereas the ADAC Cyclassics has mostly been a race for sprinters in the past, the course is challenging enough to thwart the really fast men. This resulted in a varied start list, including Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), as well as Jan Christen, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), and Marc Hirschi (Tudor).

Defending champion Olav Kooij was also scheduled to start, but he had fallen ill. This allowed Wout van Aert to appear at the start as a replacement: he would compete alongside Christophe Laporte, who was back after almost a year's absence. A great comeback in sunny Germany!

From Buxtehude, four men managed to break away from the pack. Dries De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty) was joined by Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), and Rory Townsend (Q36.5). They gained a considerable lead, but the big sprinter teams picked up the pace halfway through the race. This also brought them to a hilly section, with the difficult Waseberg as the decisive factor. There, Milan surprisingly lost his momentum.

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was also struggling. At the front, there was an acceleration: Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X), Damien Touze (Cofidis), Robert Stannard (Bahrain Victorious), and Toon Aerts (Lotto) broke away from the peloton. That adventure was short-lived, as Soudal Quick-Step closed the gap. Later, Aerts was on the ground: he had taken Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) with him. The German saw his chances go up in smoke.

Meanwhile, the four leaders were still ahead. With 40 kilometers to go, they still had a comfortable lead of more than 3 minutes, but there was still a hill section to come. Moreover, it was the sprinter teams that kept the pace high, gradually closing the gap. On the Waseberg, Jacobs managed to break away from his fellow breakaway riders, but the peloton was back on his tail.

Once again, it was Vacek who accelerated. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) joined him. The pair were later joined by around 15 to 20 riders. Abrahamsen was there again, but so were Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG). However, there was little cooperation, and so the group came back together again.

The exhausted sprinters got a second chance, but they still had to survive the grueling Waseberg climb. Meanwhile, the four breakaway riders, with Jacobs caught again, still had a good minute's lead. Was a surprise in the making? On the final climb, it was Vacek who accelerated again. Third time lucky, hoped the Lidl-Trek rider. But the powerful Czech was joined by Isaac Del Toro.

Paul Magnier also sneaked away, bringing the race to a standstill. Once again, there were about ten riders with a gap on the pack, but it was a case of running and standing still. No one really wanted to push on, so everything ended up regrouping a bit. The peloton caught the second group, while the leading group, minus De Pooter, who had been dropped, continued to ride ahead. The trio defended themselves valiantly in the final kilometers.

Uno-X Mobility and Alpecin-Deceuninck did their best, but it was three against two, because those teams only had one rider left to do the work. After a while, Intermarché-Wanty also joined in, causing the gap to close again. But the sprinter teams were pretty much exhausted. It was a thrilling final kilometer, with Townsend narrowly staying ahead of the charging peloton.