THE traditional cycling festival of the Hanseatic city of Hamburg is returning this summer with one of the most awaited classic appointments for the sprinters: the Bemer Cyclassics Hamburg, scheduled for tomorrow.
Despite its relatively young history – the first edition was in 1996 – the race soon became part of the UCI WorldTour and is still Germany’s biggest one-day classic race.
The upcoming edition features the classic route with a solid distance of 205km and a first flat part followed by a more challenging second part of the course, where the riders will face the key sector of the race:
the Waseberg hill (200m at 15%) to repeat three times at 141.7km, 181.6km and 189.6km, with the last ascent coming at 15.9km to the finish.
These course characteristics make the race suitable for classics specialists and fast riders with punchy skills, who usually battle in a reduced bunch sprint in Mönckebergstrasse.
“We aim to be there in the mix to contest a podium result,” Bahrain Victorious’ sports director Enrico Poitschke said. “We will try to win the race with our sprinter Jonathan Milan, who can count on the lead out of some reliable and strong riders like Nikias Arndt, Matevz Govekar and Andrea Pasqualon.
“Pasqualon has vast experience but it’s the 35-year-old Italian sprinter’s first appearance in Hamburg, like his fellow countryman Nicolò Buratti and the Australian Cameron Scott. Both will have the role of helpers alongside Yukiya Arashiro, who is at his third appearance at the German classic.
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