World under 23 champion Arnaud Démare got the better of older, more experienced competitors in yesterday’s Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, the FDJ-BigMat rider beating Andrei Greipel (Lotto Belisol), Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack-Nissan), Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step) and the rest of the peloton to the line.
The twenty year old Frenchman positioned himself well in the final kilometre and then powered ahead inside the last 200 metres. It was the sixth and biggest win of his debut pro season, and underlines what should be a big future for him.
Further back, a crash in the bunch brought down several riders, with South African sprinter Daryl Impey (Orica GreenEdge) appearing the worst affected. He suffered fractured ribs in the fall. The team’s designated sprinter Matt Goss earlier punctured out of contention.
The 245.9 kilometre race kicked off with an early break by Gregor Gazvoda (Ag2r La Mondiale), RadioShack’s Jesse Sergent and Andreas Dietziker (NettApp) clipped away and built a lead of four minutes 50 seconds after 30 kilometres of racing. Liquigas and Sky were at the head of the bunch but gave the move some elastic, allowing their advantage to rise to six minutes 45 seconds with 95 kilometres covered.
Just over ten kilometres later, Sergent punctured and dropped back; the remaining two leaders were just two minutes 49 seconds back at the first ascent of the Waseberg.
This then went back up to three minutes 15 seconds with 100 kilometres remaining. Gasvoda and Dietziker tried to hang on but were finally reeled in with 60 kilometres left; as that happened, BMC Racing Team’s Marco Pinotti surged ahead and was joined by Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ), Martin Mortensen (Vacansoleil-DCM), Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack-Nissan), Simon Spilak (Katusha), Thomas Juul Jensen (Saxo Bank Tinkoff Bank) and Matteo Bono (Lampre ISD).
These built a lead of half a minute but the bunch got within five seconds of them with 37 kilometres to go. In response Pinotti did a particularly long turn at the front, hammering it to keep the impetus going and this was enough to stir the others on and to start opening the gap again.
The Italian was joined by the others escapees, less Spilak and Juul Jensen, and together they extended their advantage a little more. However they were brought back before the riders crested the summit of the Waseberg for the second time, where Hoogerland launched an attack.
The Vacansoleil DCM rider was joined by medium sized group, with a number of strong riders including Tour de France green jersey Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step).
Boonen then attacked solo with 23 kilometres to go, getting a gap while the others were caught. However the peloton closed up a kilometre later, bringing things back together. Sagan suffered a mechanical issue and was delayed; while he would eventually make it back to the bunch, the energy expended meant he was lacking his usual power for the sprint.
With nineteen kilometres left, Garmin-Sharp’s Sep Vanmarcke clipped away alone, but was soon closed down. A group moved clear on the final ascent of the Waseberg, and after several others joined up, RadioShack Nissan’s Ben Hermans accelerated and raced ahead solo.
Behind, a group containing Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and others were chasing, and joined soon afterwards by more reinforcements including Garmin-Sharp’s Dan Martin.
These caught Hermans just inside eight kilometres to go. The peloton had things completely under control, though, and everything was back together with 6.8 kilometres left.
Astana’s Muravyev wasn’t reading the script and attacked, holding a slight lead going into the final five kilometres. The sprinters’ teams got him back 4.2 kilometres from the finish, with Argos Shimano and Omega Pharma Quick Step seeking to take control.
However neither team could stop FDJ’s Démare, who surged ahead in the sprint and bettered Greipel, Nizzolo, Boonen and the rest to grab his biggest pro win.
Vattenfall Cyclassics (2.HC), Hamburg, Germany:
1, Arnaud Demare (FDJ-Big Mat) 246 km in 6 hours 3 mins 19 secs
2, André Greipel (Lotto Belisol Team)
3, Giacomo Nizzolo (Radioshack-Nissan)
4, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
5, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling)
6, Mark Renshaw (Rabobank Cycling Team)
7, Heinrich Haussler (Garmin - Sharp)
8, Manuel Belletti (AG2R La Mondiale)
9, Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano)
10, Borut Bozic (Astana Pro Team)
11, Alexander Kristoff (Katusha Team)
12, David Tanner (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank)
13, Manuele Mori (Lampre - ISD)
14, Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
15, Grega Bole (Lampre - ISD)
16, Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team)
17, Andreas Schillinger (Team NetApp)
18, Ben Hermans (Radioshack-Nissan)
19, Danilo Hondo (Lampre - ISD)
20, Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar Team)
21, Mirko Selvaggi (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
22, Jonathan Cantwell (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank)
23, Alan Perez Lezaun (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
24, Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank) at 8 secs
25, Mickael Delage (FDJ-Big Mat) at 11 secs
26, Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 14 secs
27, Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 16 secs
28, José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Movistar Team)
29, Ruben Plaza Molina (Movistar Team) at 18 secs
30, Christian Knees (Sky Procycling) at mins 24 secs
31, Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
32, Reto Hollenstein (Team NetApp)
33, Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Movistar Team)
34, Romain Lemarchand (AG2R La Mondiale)
35, Michael Morkov (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank) at 27 secs
36, Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team)
37, Gustav Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 32 secs
38, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) at 34 secs
39, Andriy Grivko (Astana Pro Team)
40, Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 36 secs
41, Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
42, Jérôme Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
43, Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Belisol Team)
44, Nick Nuyens (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank)
45, Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale)
46, Simone Ponzi (Astana Pro Team)
47, Bert De Backer (Argos-Shimano) at 43 secs
48, Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre - ISD)
49, Maxim Belkov (Katusha Team)
50, Jan Barta (Team NetApp)
51, Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 46 secs
52, Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan)
53, Francesco Gavazzi (Astana Pro Team)
54, Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp)
55, Ignatas Konovalovas (Movistar Team)
56, Kenny Elissonde (FDJ-Big Mat)
57, Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
58, Jacob Rathe (Garmin - Sharp) at 51 secs
59, Salvatore Puccio (Sky Procycling)
60, Diego Ulissi (Lampre - ISD) at 56 secs
61, Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ-Big Mat)
62, Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Belisol Team)
63, Marcel Sieberg (Lotto Belisol Team) at 1 min 2 secs
64, Rudiger Selig (Katusha Team) at 1 min 4 secs
65, Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 1 min 11 secs
66, Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 1 min 14 secs
67, Luke Rowe (Sky Procycling) at 1 min 16 secs
68, Paul Martens (Rabobank Cycling Team) at 1 min 21 secs
69, Daniel Martin (Garmin - Sharp) at 1 min 34 secs
70, Martin Elmiger (AG2R La Mondiale) at 1 min 39 secs
71, Robert Wagner (Radioshack-Nissan) at 1 min 53 secs
72, Fabian Wegmann (Garmin - Sharp) at 2 mins 8 secs
73, Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) at 2 mins 11 secs
74, Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 2 mins 28 secs
75, Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Rabobank Cycling Team) at 2 mins 34 secs
76, Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 2 mins 40 secs
77, Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
78, Dmitriy Muravyev (Astana Pro Team)
79, Leopold Konig (Team NetApp) at 5 mins 16 secs
80, Nikolas Maes (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) at 8 mins 27 secs
81, Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas-Cannondale)
82, Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team)
83, Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
84, Jaroslaw Marycz (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank)
85, Greg Henderson (Lotto Belisol Team)
86, Jack Bauer (Garmin - Sharp)
87, Gert Dockx (Lotto Belisol Team) at 9 mins 0 secs
88, Kris Boeckmans (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
89, Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-Big Mat)
90, Arthur Vichot (FDJ-Big Mat)
91, Jos Van Emden (Rabobank Cycling Team)
92, Thomas Leezer (Rabobank Cycling Team)
93, Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team)
94, Ramon Sinkeldam (Argos-Shimano)
95, Roger Kluge (Argos-Shimano)
96, Roy Curvers (Argos-Shimano)
97, Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin - Sharp) at 9 mins 29 secs
98, Marco Pinotti (BMC Racing Team) at 9 mins 46 secs
99, Joost Posthuma (Radioshack-Nissan)
100, Jetse Bol (Rabobank Cycling Team)
101, Albert Timmer (Argos-Shimano)
102, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
103, Adam Blythe (BMC Racing Team)
104, Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp)
105, Sébastien Hinault (AG2R La Mondiale)
106, Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp)
107, Martin Mortensen (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team)
108, Kristof Goddaert (AG2R La Mondiale)
109, Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Big Mat)
110, Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Cannondale)
111, Theo Bos (Rabobank Cycling Team)
112, Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano)
113, Andreas Dietziker (Team NetApp)
114, Bert Grabsch (Omega Pharma-Quickstep)
115, Martin Kohler (BMC Racing Team)
116, Maxime Vantomme (Katusha Team)
117, Matteo Bono (Lampre - ISD)
118, Federico Canuti (Liquigas-Cannondale)
119, Murilo Antonio Fischer (Garmin - Sharp)
120, Daniele Righi (Lampre - ISD)
121, Francis De Greef (Lotto Belisol Team)
122, Alexander Porsev (Katusha Team)
123, Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar Team) at 9 mins 58 secs
124, Dennis Vanendert (Lotto Belisol Team)
125, Matthew Harley Goss (Orica GreenEdge) at 10 mins 28 secs
126, Dominic Klemme (Argos-Shimano) at 10 mins 40 secs
127, Jens Mouris (Orica GreenEdge) at 10 mins 47 secs
128, Baden Cooke (Orica GreenEdge) at 11 mins 42 secs
129, Svein Tuft (Orica GreenEdge)
130, Alexey Tsatevitch (Katusha Team) at 13 mins 32 secs
131, Gregor Gazvoda (AG2R La Mondiale)
132, Christopher Juul Jensen (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank)
DNF Brett Lancaster (Orica GreenEdge)
DNF Stuart O'Grady (Orica GreenEdge)
DNF Matthew Wilson (Orica GreenEdge)
DNF Simon Spilak (Katusha Team)
DNF Marco Haller (Katusha Team)
DNF Andreas Klier (Garmin - Sharp)
DNF Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
DNF Massimo Graziato (Lampre - ISD)
DNF Michael Matthews (Rabobank Cycling Team)
DNF Boris Shpilevsky (AG2R La Mondiale)
DNF Steve Chainel (FDJ-Big Mat)
DNF Juan José Haedo (Team Saxo Bank / Tinkoff Bank)
DNF Alex Dowsett (Sky Procycling)
DNF Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling)
DNF Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling)
DNF Geraint Thomas (Sky Procycling)
DNF Maxim Iglinsky (Astana Pro Team)
DNF Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana Pro Team)
DNF Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale)
DNF Juraj Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
DNF Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas-Cannondale)
DNF Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Radioshack-Nissan)
DNF Yaroslav Popovych (Radioshack-Nissan)
DNF Jesse Sergent (Radioshack-Nissan)
DNF Daryl Impey (Orica GreenEdge)