Hamburg Cyclassics facts for kids
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|
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Date | Mid to late August |
| Region | Hamburg, Germany |
| Discipline | Road |
| Competition | UCI World Tour |
| Type | Single-day race |
| History | |
| First edition | 1996 |
| Editions | 26 (as of 2023) |
| First winner |  Rossano Brasi (ITA) |
| Most wins | Elia Viviani (ITA) (3 wins) |
| Most recent |  Mads Pedersen (DEN) |
The Hamburg Cyclassics is a big annual bike race in Hamburg, Germany. It's also called the Bemer Cyclassics because of its main sponsor. This exciting event includes both professional cyclists and amateur riders. The race route changes a bit each year, but it's usually about 250 kilometers long. The hardest part of the race is climbing the Waseberg hill in Blankenese. Riders have to climb it three times near the end!
Until 2016, this was Germany's only race on the UCI World Tour calendar. The UCI World Tour is like the top league for professional cycling races around the world. The race is organized by IRONMAN Unlimited Events Germany GmbH.
A super popular part of the Cyclassics is the Jedermannrennen, which means "Everyman's race." This is an event for amateur cyclists. It happens on the same day and uses the same roads as the professional race. Bike fans can join shorter races of 55 km, 100 km, or 155 km. About 22,000 amateur riders can take part, but you need to book your spot months ahead!
Contents
History of the Hamburg Cyclassics
How the Race Started: HEW Cyclassics
The Hamburg Cyclassics began in 1996. The first race was 160 km long, which is its shortest distance ever. An Italian cyclist named Rossano Brasi won it. The first main sponsor was HEW, which stood for Hamburg's Electricity Works.
In 1997, Jan Ullrich won the second race. He had just won the Tour de France, a very famous bike race. His win brought many fans and made the Cyclassics very popular, very quickly.
Cycling became super popular in Germany in the 1990s. Because of this, the Hamburg Cyclassics became part of the UCI Road World Cup in 1998. This World Cup included the ten most important one-day races in cycling. The Hamburg race took the place of a British race called the Wincanton Classic. The third edition of the race was 253 km long. A Dutch rider, Léon van Bon, won it.
Another German winner was Erik Zabel in 2001. In 2002, a Belgian rider named Johan Museeuw won his last World Cup race at the Cyclassics.
New Sponsors: Vattenfall Cyclassics
In 2002, the race sponsor HEW was bought by a Swedish company called Vattenfall. So, in 2006, the race changed its name to Vattenfall Cyclassics.
In 2005, the race became part of the new UCI ProTour. This was the next big step up from the World Cup. After another German race, the Deutschland Tour, stopped in 2009, the Cyclassics was the only top-level international race left in Germany. Since 2011, it has been one of the 24 races in the UCI World Tour. The UCI, which runs professional cycling, made sure the race would stay on the World Tour until at least 2016.
The race course is mostly flat. This makes it a great race for sprinters. Sprinters are cyclists who are very fast over short distances. Since 2004, the race has almost always ended with a big group sprint to the finish line. Many famous sprinters have won this race, like Robbie McEwen, Óscar Freire, Alexander Kristoff, and André Greipel. American sprinter Tyler Farrar is the only rider to win the race twice, in 2009 and 2010.
In 2013, there were protests during the race. These protests were not about the race itself. People in Hamburg were unhappy with Vattenfall's environmental plans.
EuroEyes Cyclassics and Beyond
In 2015, Vattenfall decided not to sponsor the race anymore. The organizers needed to find a new sponsor to help pay for the race. From 2016, EuroEyes became the new main sponsor. EuroEyes is a German company that helps people with eye surgery. In the 2016 race, Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan won. The first rider to cross the finish line, Nacer Bouhanni, was moved down in the results because of a rule violation.
Race Route and Challenges
The Hamburg Cyclassics usually starts in Hamburg-Altstadt and finishes on Mönckebergstraße. This is a famous shopping street in the city. The race distance is usually between 225 and 255 km. The course is mostly flat, going through the countryside around Hamburg. The exact route changes a little each year, but the finish line stays in the same spot.
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The biggest challenge on the course is the Waseberg hill. It's in Blankenese, a part of Altona, west of Hamburg. Near the end of the race, cyclists do three smaller loops. Each loop includes climbing the Waseberg. The first climb is about 69 km from the finish. The second is 28 km away, and the third is just 15.5 km from the finish line.
The Waseberg is a steep, paved hill. It goes up from the Elbe river into Blankenese. It's 700 meters long and can be as steep as 16%. It's extra hard because riders hit a sharp turn right before the climb. This means they have to quickly change gears. Riders often rush to get to the front before the climb. The route also goes over the Köhlbrandbrücke, which is Hamburg's tallest bridge.
From 2005 to 2014, the first half of the race went south towards Lüneburg Heath. Then, riders came back to Hamburg and did a western loop.
In 2015, the organizers changed the route to celebrate the race's 20th birthday. The race started in Kiel, about 90 kilometers north of Hamburg. Riders cycled southwest to Hamburg, crossing Schleswig-Holstein. The total distance was shorter, at 222 km. However, the final part of the race, with the three climbs of the Waseberg and the finish on Mönckebergstraße, stayed the same. The route from Kiel to Hamburg was also chosen to help promote the cities' plan to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The race director, Roland Hofer, said that even though the race looks good for sprinters, any type of great rider can win it. He said this kind of race is important for the World Tour. He also mentioned that the World Tour came to Germany during a time when German cycling was becoming popular again.
Past Winners of the Race
| Rider | Team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ↓ "HEW Cyclassics" ↓ | ||||
| 1996 |  |
Rossano Brasi | Team Polti | |
| 1997 |  |
Jan Ullrich | Team Telekom | |
| 1998 |  |
Léon van Bon | Rabobank | |
| 1999 | |
Mirko Celestino | Team Polti | |
| 2000 | |
Gabriele Missaglia | Lampre–Daikin | |
| 2001 | |
Erik Zabel | Team Telekom | |
| ↓ "Vattenfall Europe Hamburg" ↓ | ||||
| 2002 |  |
Johan Museeuw | Domo–Farm Frites | |
| 2003 | |
Paolo Bettini | Quick-Step–Davitamon | |
| 2004 |  |
Stuart O'Grady | Cofidis | |
| 2005 | |
Filippo Pozzato | Quick-Step–Innergetic | |
| ↓ "Vattenfall Cyclassics" ↓ | ||||
| 2006 |  |
Óscar Freire | Rabobank | |
| 2007 | |
Alessandro Ballan | Lampre–Fondital | |
| 2008 | |
Robbie McEwen | Silence–Lotto | |
| 2009 |  |
Tyler Farrar | Garmin–Slipstream | |
| 2010 | |
Tyler Farrar | Garmin–Transitions | |
| 2011 |  |
Edvald Boasson Hagen | Team Sky | |
| 2012 |  |
Arnaud Démare | FDJ–BigMat | |
| 2013 | |
John Degenkolb | Argos–Shimano | |
| 2014 | |
Alexander Kristoff | Team Katusha | |
| 2015 | |
André Greipel | Lotto–Soudal | |
| 2016 | |
Caleb Ewan | Orica–BikeExchange | |
| ↓ "EuroEyes Cyclassics" ↓ | ||||
| 2017 | |
Elia Viviani | Team Sky | |
| 2018 | |
Elia Viviani | Quick-Step Floors | |
| 2019 | |
Elia Viviani | Deceuninck–Quick-Step | |
| 2020 | No race | |||
| ↓ "Bemer Cyclassics" ↓ | ||||
| 2021 | No race | |||
| 2022 |  |
Marco Haller | Bora–Hansgrohe | |
| 2023 |  |
Mads Pedersen | Lidl–Trek | |
Cyclists with Multiple Wins
| Wins | Rider | Editions |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Elia Viviani (ITA) |
2017, 2018, 2019 |
|
|
 Tyler Farrar (USA) |
2009, 2010 |
Wins by Country
| Wins | Country |
|---|---|
| 9 | Italy |
| 4 |  Germany |
| 3 |  Australia |
| 2 |  Norway United States |
| 1 |  Austria Belgium Denmark France Netherlands Spain |
See also
In Spanish: Cyclassics Hamburg para niños
