Search our site:

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,
Monday, August 18, 2025

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary | Our YouTube page
2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. - Will Rogers

Les Woodland's book The Olympics' 50 Craziest Stories: A Five Ring Circus is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Upcoming racing:

• Augusty 19 - 22: Tour du Limousin
• August 20 - 24: Renewi Tour

Latest completed racing:

• August 17: Hamburg Cyclassics
• August 17: La Polynormande
• August 12 - 16: Tour of Denmark
• August 15: Circuit Franco-Belge
• August 4 - 10: Tour of Poland
• August 7 - 10: Arctic Race of Norway
• August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
• August 6 - 8: Tour de l'Ain
• August 3: Circuito de Getxo
• August 2: San Sebastian Classic
• July 26 - July 30: Tour de Wallonie
• July 27: Vuelta a Castilla y Leon
• July 5 - 27: Tour de France

We posted the report from third-place Paul Magnier's Team Soudal Quick-Step with the results.

Here's the report from winner Rory Townsend's Team Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team:

Sometimes you have to dream big, ride on and don’t look back, even against all odds. That’s what Rory Townsend did today in the ADAC Cyclassics in Hamburg. In a stacked field of world class sprinters the Irish champion won the race from the early breakaway, something that never happens in this sprinter’s classic. It’s the first UCI World Tour win for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team since the team started in 2023, and the 14th victory of the season.

Rory Townsend on the Hamburg Cyclassics podium. Sirotti phto

When asked after the finish in the flash interview whether he expected to win a World Tour race, Rory still was in shock and disbelief.

“No,” he said. “I can honestly say I did not. Jannik [Steimle] and I noticed there was a lot of interest in the early breakaway and we both kept an eye on the attacks. There was potential for a big group but in the end there were only four of us.”

Rory, Dries De Pooter, Johan Jacobs and Nelson Oliveira proved to be a particularly strong foursome and the gap went out to five minutes. Despite attacks on the penultimate lap, the gap remained stable and even went up again. The four riders kept sharing the workload evenly, even on the steep Waseberg which featured five times in the 207-kilometer-long race; twice in the final 30 kilometers.

Rory Townsend: “I settled in for a day in the breakaway,” Rory said. “I focused on the intermediate sprints and the goal was to aim for the penultimate time up the climb and then stay with the [first] group as they caught us. But we kept going.”

The Waseberg is always a decisive factor in this race that normally always ends in a bunch sprint, or a reduced group sprint. The race in 2000, when our Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team’s sports director Gabriele Missaglia won in a sprint à deux with Francesco Casagrande, was one of the last times it didn’t end in a sprint. Winning from the breakaway like Rory did today, never happened this century which makes it all the sweeter.

“I felt the peloton coming,” Rory says on the tense moments in the final 10 kilometers when the gap had dropped to 20 seconds. “I had time checks from the team car almost every second so I knew they were very close. When I saw where they were [in the final kilometer] I started to feel a little bit more confident because I knew I had the jump over the other two riders. I usually have a good sprint, especially after a hard day. I then just sprinted out of the saddle as long as I could and be as aero as I could for the rest.”

The win in Hamburg following in the footsteps of Missa, and many other great names in cycling, is the biggest win of Rory’s career to date. It’s the first Word Tour win for the team as well.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s just pure disbelief as you could see on my face when I crossed the line. I am still in shock. This is an incredibly proud moment. Winning a World Tour race, any race in my national colours is great. This is the cycling that inspired me in riders like Steve Cummings. Doing this myself now is just amazing.”

What’s Next:
As we build towards our debut La Vuelta a España, Rory’s victory is more than just a result. It’s a statement: Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team belongs on the sport’s biggest stage. And now, we’re WorldTour winners.

Here's the Hamburg Cyclassics report from second-place Arnaud De Lie's Team Lotto:

Arnaud De Lie delivered a powerful performance at Hamburg Cyclassics, sprinting to a second place finish. "It's only my second race back after the Tour de France", he reflects.

The race, marked by its iconic climbs of the Waseberg, proved particularly challenging this year. The riders had to face the steep ascent five times, pushing the whole peloton to its limits.

Arnaud De Lie just after finishing the race. Sirotti photo

"Hamburg is a really special race and a very difficult one. Especially this year, as we had to tackle the Waseberg 5 times. The breakaway was really strong today and unfortunately we didn’t manage to get in there. At least we still managed to get back to them. It is always a pity to finish in second. But it is only my second race back after the Tour de France. It’s always a bit experimenting how your body reacts after such a grand tour but I can be satisfied with how my legs were feeling today", Arnaud De Lie reflects on today's race.

Here's the Hamburg race report from Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Wout van Aert sprinted to tenth place in the Cyclassics Hamburg, where repeated attacks on the Waseberg climb and a strong early breakaway made a hectic finale. The Belgian rider rode a strong race, despite not being scheduled to start. For Christophe Laporte, it was his first race back after a long absence.

Wout van Aert, just behind winner Rory Townsend, finishes tenth. sirotti photo

”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,” Van Aert said after crossing the line.

A few hours before, the race had started at a furious pace across the North German flatlands, where four riders established the day’s breakaway. The peloton then settled down, but Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders were already grouped near the front when the race hit its key feature, the steep Waseberg climb, for the first time.

The classic climb had to be tackled five times this year, including twice in the final thirty kilometers. The first three ascents gradually reduced the peloton, with Team Visma | Lease a Bike still well represented, but even several hard attacks on the last two ascents could not create the decisive split. Instead, it was a heavily reduced peloton that had to chase the early breakaway in the final ten kilometers. One of the breakaway riders, Rory Townsend, managed to stay just ahead of the bunch, while Van Aert sprinted to tenth place.

”It’s a pity we didn’t get that top result, because we deliverd a strong performance as a team. I didn’t expect to be racing here this weekend, so it’s no shame the top shape is not there yet. I’m looking forward to the coming races,” Van Aert concluded.

Grischa Niermann, Head of Racing, added his thoughts on the day in Hamburg:

“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.”

Niermann also noted that Christophe Laporte managed to hold on for quite a while, even though the former European champion was racing for the first time in more than 300 days.

“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.”

We posted the report from fifth-place Mathis Le Berre's Team Arkea-B&B Hotels with the results.

Here's the report from Team Groupama-FDJ:

Until the last thirty kilometres, on Sunday’s Polynormande, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was in a rather comfortable position. With Lorenzo Germani and Valentin Madouas in a leading group of about a dozen men, a convincing result was within reach. Unfortunately, the peloton managed to come back, another breakaway formed shortly afterward without a member of the team, and this one proved decisive. Within the peloton, Valentin Madouas then took 21st place.

Nicolas Prodhomme wins the race.

The traditional hilly circuit of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, including the steep climb of la Côte de la Pigeonnière, was on the menu this Sunday for the 45th edition of the Polynormande. Before completing eleven laps, the riders had to cover thirty kilometres from Avranches, and three men took advantage of this first part of the course to hit the front. The race did not settle down, however, since barely had the circuit started, the pace increased within the pack, and everything came back together on the second lap. A real fight then took place for half an hour before eleven riders managed to go clear, including Lorenzo Germani, and the outgoing winner Paul Lapeira.

“The plan was to be offensive and ride smart, because we know that the moves that go early often have a chance of making it on the Polynormande,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “Having Lorenzo in that first move was a good thing.” The breakaway formed with around 115 kilometres to go but, due to its composition, never benefited from a bigger lead than one minute. For half of the race, a constant battle took place between the front group and the pack, with a gap fluctuating between thirty and fifty seconds. With sixty kilometres to go, five laps from the finish, a big push was made in the back, the gap went down to 15 seconds, which allowed four men, including Valentin Madouas, to jump across.
Thirteen riders found themselves in front, and the gap on the peloton increased to thirty seconds. “We thought the ‘break’ was made, that this group would go all the way, as it happened in previous years,” Benoît added. “Up until that point, everything had gone well. It was perfect for us. Unfortunately, they didn’t work very well together at the front, and the bunch eventually came back.”

With just over thirty kilometres to go, almost the entire breakaway, with the exception of Nicolas Breuillard, was caught by the pack, and then counterattacks occurred right after. “We were in a bit of trouble then,” Benoît confessed. “Olivier gave it a go, he was countered, and we had no one left because our youngsters had been distanced. We needed to have the numbers, but we didn’t, and so we suffered.” A five-man break formed at the front and its advantage quickly reached half a minute. Lorenzo Germani and Olivier Le Gac’s attempt to launch Valentin Madouas, two laps from the finish, didn’t prove enough. “We had to try with what we had left, but Valentin was also a bit tired and starting to get cramps,” Benoît said. Once the Breton’s attempt was neutralized, the peloton pretty much gave up, despite a few additional pulls from Olivier Le Gac.

Nicolas Prodhomme eventually claimed victory, and the pack finished almost two minutes later for sixth place. Valentin Madouas took twenty-first. “The overall result is disappointing, but we also knew we didn’t have much room for manoeuvre,” concluded Benoît. “We needed for everything to come together and for this group of thirteen to go all the way. Unfortunately, anticipation didn’t pay off this year.”

And here's the Polynormande report from Team Polti-VisitMalta:

The day before yesterday in Belgium he had been the best finisher of the squad; today Alex Martín acted as Giovanni Lonardi’s guardian angel, together with Davide Bais, in La Polynormande: as the French riders dominated, the first Italian flag was raised by the Polti VisitMalta sprinter. Behind stage winner Prodhomme (Decathlon) and his four chasers, Lonardi took 2nd in the uphill sprint of the main bunch and ended up 7th overall.

The Polynormande race gets started.

Sports Director Jesús Hernández: “Giovanni did a great job of making the most of his teammates’ strong support and hanging on until the last ramp in a demanding competition. This result is a good sign for him ahead of a busy end of the month in France. But credit goes to all the riders for the effort they put in. Now we have one week without races before a very packed season finale.”

Back to news and opinion index page for links to archived stories | Commentary