ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg: Paul Magnier takes sprint win after Soudal-Quickstep takes control in final 10 kilometres - Australia News Beep

Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) surged to victory at the ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg on Sunday, continuing his fine season with a convincing victory in the WorldTour-level one-day race.

The Frenchman, winner of three stages at this year’s Giro d’Italia, crossed the line with daylight between himself and the rest of the sprinting peloton, with Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana) taking second place and Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) grabbing the final spot on the podium.

The mixed bag of a top-10 was without a number of key contenders, including Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), as a small group was cut off the back of the peloton on the final ascent of the punchy Waseberg climb.

The Waseberg – 700 metres long at an average gradient of 10% – was covered five times on the 205-kilometre route of the German Classic, inspiring attacks from the likes of Tour de France podium finisher Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

In fact, it was Del Toro’s acceleration on the final ascent with 16km to go – coupled with repeated digs on the flat from the Mexican – that saw some of those big-name sprinters tailed out of the running.

Magnier’s QuickStep came to the front just when it looked like the Milan/Kooij group was about to return inside the final 10km, and they went on to dominate the final three kilometres with two men in front of Magnier.

It wasn’t quite enough to provide a full lead-out, as last-man Jasper Stuyven had to pull aside with 500 metres to go, but Magnier was so good he didn’t need much help. As Red Bull swamped he calmly slotted in and found a way out, moving decisively clear in the final 150 metres and holding it all the way to the line.

“I’m super proud to take my first WorldTour one-day victory,” Magnier said. “I think I can really thank my team, every single rider worked really hard, and in the final team really put me in the perfect position and I could make a perfect sprint.

“We also knew the breakaway was really strong – we didn’t want it to happen like last year. Ayco [Bastiaens] and Yves Lampaert had to work really hard to bring everything back together. Then the whole lead-out train helped me to always survive this steep climb every loop. I also felt strong in the last lap to follow the move of Del Toro. I knew I had a really strong lead-out and was really confident in them and super proud to finish it off.”

Cheers from the podium (l-r): second place Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana), winner Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) and third place Laurence Pither (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe)

Cheers from the podium (l-r): second place Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana), winner Paul Magnier (Soudal-Quickstep) and third place Laurence Pither (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) (Image credit: Getty Images)

The racing was sparked into life by a six-man breakaway that featured Filip Maciejuk (Movistar), Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché), Dries De Pooeter (Jayco-AlUla), Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), and the Visma-Lease a Bike duo of Niklas Behrens and Loe Van Belle.

They were kept on a relatively short leash, with the gap never growing out beyond five minutes.

Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) sets the pace in the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)

The first ascent of the Waseberg came after 90km and passed without much incident, with the riders going on to head through the finish line for the first time, at the halfway mark, with three minutes the gap.

The second ascent of the Waseberg with 75km to go saw the race light up courtesy of Benoit Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the French puncheur putting in a stinging attack that drew out Brandon Rivera (Netcompany-Ineos), Tim Rex (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Brent Van Moer (Pinarello-Q36.5).

On the finishing loop, covered twice, the Wasberg featured twice in the space of barely 10km, and by the time it was back around to the climb the Cosnefroy move was neutralised as Visma accelerated from behind.