Hamburg result "no shame" for Van Aert; Head of Racing Niermann explains how Laporte fared after 300 days without racing

Van Aert was unable to keep up with Mathias Vacek and others on the Waseberg. “I surely hoped for more, but I did not have the legs to make the difference on the last hill. Luckily, everything came together in the last kilometer. I tried to position for the sprint, but I got boxed in a few times, so this result was the highest possible today.”

“It’s a pity we didn’t get that top result, because we delivered a strong performance as a team. I didn’t expect to be racing here this weekend, so it’s no shame that the top shape is not there yet. I’m looking forward to the coming races,” said the Belgian, who will be at the start of the Lidl Deutschland Tour on Wednesday and will then compete in the Canadian races in Quebec and Montreal.

Head of Racing Grischa Niermann also summed up the day via the Dutch team's channels. “Wout was only called up at the very last moment, but he rode really well and finished in the first group, even with a tough Tour de France still in his legs.”

For Christophe Laporte, the ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg was his first race of 2025 after struggling with a viral infection for a long time. The Frenchman finished 86th. “Christophe was doing his first race in a long time, so it’s perfectly normal that he didn’t have a super feeling yet. Overall, the boys rode a good race,” Niermann concluded.