Germany’s biggest bike race began as a modest event in 1996, with the lowest ranking on the UCI calendar. However, in 1997, when the recently crowned Tour de France champion and national hero Jan Ullrich arrived in Hamburg—and then won—the event gained international prominence. 

Since 1998, Cyclassics has held a place on the UCI’s WorldTour calendar.

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Ulrich was also the last general classification contender to win in Hamburg. For more than two decades, fast men and classics stars have dominated the Cyclassics. Former winners include Erik Zabel, Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwen, John Degenkolb, and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

American Tyler Farrar is the only racer to have won Cyclassics Hamburg more than one time, taking successive victories in 2009 and 2010.

The Course

The Cyclassics Hamburg course is comprised of two large and relatively flat loops to the east and west of Hamburg, covering 216.4km in total.

In the second half of the race, the peloton will encounter three successive ascents of the Waseberg climb. The hill rises at a gradient of 9.7 percent for 0.7km, with pitches of 16 percent, and serves as a launchpad for riders aiming to disrupt the sprint trains.

From the final ascent of the Waseberg, the course covers 16km to the finish in the streets of Hamburg’s bustling city center.

The Contenders

Elia Viviani will return to Hamburg in defense of his 2017 title, and ranks as the race favorite. At the European Championships, Viviani competed in both the men’s road race and the track omnium, where he took second overall. The Italian sprinter is enjoying his finest season, taking four stage wins and the points jersey at the Giro d’Italia, as well as the Italian National Championship on an Alpine course that favored the climbers.

Normally no one would count out Peter Sagan for almost any race at which he lines up. However, the world champion continues to recover from a severe crash at the Tour de France, and pulled out of Sunday’s European Championship with lingering pain. Sagan is slated to start the Vuelta a Espana in a week’s time, and will use Cyclassics Hamburg as a final test.

Alexander Kristoff, Arnaud Démare, and Andre Greipel will also challenge for victory should the race culminate in a bunch sprint.

A number of strong classics riders will aim to make the finale difficult, and unseat the sprinters. Cyclassics is a home race for John Degenkolb, who took the cobblestone stage 9 of the Tour de France. Matteo Trentin arrives in Germany off a hard fought win at the European Championships. And all-arounder Tiesj Benoot and the Lotto-Soudal team will undoubtedly ride an attacking race.