Elia Viviani (Deceuninck – Quick-Step), who has triumphed at the last two editions of Cyclassics Hamburg, will return to the start motivated to defend his title, sporting the European Champion jersey, which he won two weeks ago, in Alkmaar. Supporting Viviani at Germany’s only World Tour event will be neo-pro Mikkel Honoré, Yves Lampaert, Danish Champion Michael Mørkøv, Fabio Sabatini, Florian Sénéchal and Petr Vakoc.

“We look with confidence towards this race, which suits well our European Champion, Elia. Our team is a strong one, with a solid lead-out train – comprising Saba, Michael, Yves and Florian – so that gives us hope we can come out of it with a nice result,” said Deceuninck – Quick-Step sports director Geert Van Bondt.

“There’s some pressure, we won’t hide that, but also other teams interested in a bunch gallop will be under the same pressure. In terms of parcours, as was the case so many times, Waseberg will be the most important point of the race, because things always get nervous there and it’s crucial to be in a good position last time up this climb, before the fast finish in Hamburg.”

The 24th edition of the Cyclassics which starts and finishes in Hamburg will see the riders cover a distance of 216.7 kilometres. The race will see the peloton tackle the Waseberg climb (700 metres, 10% average gradient) on four occasions, thus giving the riders keen on avoiding a mass gallop an opportunity to attack and foil the sprinters’ plans, especially as the last ascent comes inside the final kilometres.

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