A 70-year-old amateur cyclist died on Sunday after collapsing while competing in a supporting event at the ADAC Cyclassics in Hamburg. According to dpa, as reported by Yahoo Sports, emergency crews resuscitated the rider on the course before he was transferred to hospital, where he later died. He did not survive. Tour Magazin confirmed that organisers had reported no major incidents in previous amateur races on the day.
Before the professional race began, riders observed a minute’s silence for Welsh cyclist Finlay Tarling, who died on Friday after being struck by a vehicle during the Tour of Portugal.
Magnier Dominates the Sprint Finish
French rider Paul Magnier claimed victory in the 29th edition of the professional race, winning a reduced bunch sprint in central Hamburg. The course ran just under 205 kilometres, beginning in the Lower Saxon town of Buxtehude. The 22-year-old Soudal Quick-Step rider, who had already taken three stage wins at this year’s Giro d’Italia, launched from around 300 metres out and held on comfortably. Seven wins for the season.
Dutch rider Mike Teunissen crossed second, with Australia’s Laurence Pithie third. Germany’s Henri Uhlig finished fifth, the highest-placed home rider.
Late Split Decides the Race
The decisive moment came in the closing kilometres, when the peloton fractured. Jonathan Milan and Olav Kooij, two of the pre-race sprint favourites, were caught in the wrong group and failed to contest the finish, according to cyclinguptodate.com. Visma and Soudal Quick-Step had worked to control the front group, setting up the final sprint for Filippo Fiorelli and Magnier respectively.
The route featured five ascents of the Waseberg, a 700-metre climb averaging 9.4 per cent gradient. The last passage came with roughly 16 kilometres remaining. After that, Mexico’s Isaac del Toro helped pull the peloton back together following an earlier surge from a small breakaway group.
Crashes Hit Several Riders
Two professionals abandoned after a collision earlier in the race. Among them was Australia’s Michael Matthews, a four-time Tour de France stage winner. Del Toro himself briefly went down while grabbing a feed bag but remounted quickly and continued. Biniam Girmay also crashed, per cyclinguptodate.com, though the Eritrean was able to stay in the race.
Notable absentees from the start included five-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Germany’s Florian Lipowitz. Lipowitz had not recovered from a Tour crash, as Tour Magazin noted.
The Deutschland Tour begins on Wednesday in south-west Germany. The Vuelta a España, cycling’s final Grand Tour of the season, starts in Monaco on Saturday.
