Rory Townsend shocks sprinters to win ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg
Irish champion Rory Townsend (Q36.5) claimed the biggest win of his career after he survived from the day's early break to hold off the chasers and win the ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) won the sprint for second ahead of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Townsend was part of a four-man move that formed in the opening kilometres of the race, building a maximum lead of five minutes with 100km remaining. The peloton drew closer on the finishing circuit over the Waseberg, but each ascent also whittled the bunch down in size and reduced the firepower in the pursuit.
Townsend, Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) and Dries De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty) hit the final climb of the Waseberg with 16km to go, they still had 52 seconds in hand on the bunch, but their prospects of fending off the chase looked slim, particularly when a strong chasing group featuring Isaac del Toro, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Marc Hirschi (Tudor) formed after fierce pressure from Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek).
The momentum ebbed from the pursuit on the run-in, however, while the surviving escapees Townsend, Jacobs and Oliveira stuck gamely to their task. Above all, the leading trio maintained their unity deep into the final kilometre, while the severely reduced peloton was now short on the firepower needed to shut them down.
The trio had 20 seconds with 2km to go and still had 10 in hand as they entered the final kilometre. It all hung in the balance there, but Townsend had the strength and the nous to open his sprint from distance. That effort from 300m to go saw him rip clear of Oliveria and Jacobs, and it also gave him enough of a buffer to fend off De Lie, Philipsen and Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep).
How it unfolded
The race was animated by a four-man break featuring Dries De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty), Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) and Rory Towsend (Q36.5). The quartet escaped in the opening kilometres and their buffer would reach a maximum of five minutes with 100km remaining.
From there, the gap began to shrink inexorably, with the pace ratcheting up over successive laps over the climb of the Waseberg.
An important shift in the race took place on the third time up the Waseberg when Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was distanced, and that liberated his teammate Mathias Vacek to pile on the pressure on subsequent ascents of the climb.
On the penultimate time up the Waseberg, Vacek’s forcing brought a group of 15 riders clear, including Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), but there was precious little cohesion and the move petered out soon afterwards.
The escapees hit the final climb up the Waseberg with 16km to go with 52 seconds in hand on the bunch. Almost inevitably, Vacek was again to the fore, with Del Toro again on his wheel.
Vacek’s forcing led to a small group going clear over the top, including Del Toro, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Marc Hirschi (Tudor) and dangerman Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep).
Once again, cohesion was at a premium, and the group swelled to fifty or so riders with 10km remaining, by which points the remaining escapees Oliveira, Townsend and Jacobs still had 13 seconds in hand.
Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor) made a late bid to bridge up to the break, but he served only as a hare for the Alpecin-Deceuninck-led peloton to chase. At that point, it looked as though a bunch sprint was inevitable, but Townsend would defy the odds to claim the spoils.
