Greipel wins bunch sprint in Hamburg

Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) claimed the win in the bunch sprint at the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg. Second place went to Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), who went in the lead too early and ended up setting up his German rival perfectly. Giacomo Nizzolo of Trek was third.

Greipel surprisingly had never won the Vattenfall Cyclassics before in his career, but this time a perfect storm of a late crash taking out Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quickstep) and Kristoff hitting out prematurely helped the German finally win in Hamburg.

"That was super work from the team, although after crashes in the finale we only had four guys," Greipel said. "I have often hoped to win here. Today it finally worked out."

The race got off to an unusual start in the harbour city of Kiel, with the peloton taking off from a ferry on to the mainland. Shortly after the start, a four-man group got away. Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18), Matteo Bono (Lampre-Merida), Alex Dowsett (Movistar) and Martin Mortensen (Cult Energy) pulled away and built up a gap of up to five minutes.

MTN-Qhubeka led the chase much of the day, before Lotto-Soudal and Katusha, with their top sprint candidates, moved in. With 60 km to go, Bono and Mortensen were alone in the lead with a gap of less than a minute.

The gap continued to fall and with 43 km to go, the gap was about 30 seconds, and the leading duo had been joined by Philippe Gilbert (BMC), Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Matthias Brändle (IAM). However, by the 20 km marker, it had all come back together, with a peloton of about 75 riders.

Linus Gerdemann (Cult Energy) was one of the first to attack, and he and Julien Alaphilippe put in a strong effort, but were never far away from the field. They were swallowed up with 10 km to go.

A crash with less than 3 km to go took down Mark Cavendish (Etixx-QuickStep) and Giant-Alpecin’s Marcel Kittel had been dropped on the third climb of the day, so two top favourites were eliminated.

As could be expected, it came down to defending champion Kristoff and Greipel. The Norwegian opened the sprint, but unfortunately for him, Greipel was directly on his wheel. The German powered past Kristoff and easily cruised in to take his first Vattenfall win.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal4:57:05
2Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team KatushaRow 1 - Cell 2
3Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory RacingRow 2 - Cell 2
4Tom Boonen (Bel) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 3 - Cell 2
5Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing TeamRow 4 - Cell 2
6Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.frRow 5 - Cell 2
7Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-SaxoRow 6 - Cell 2
8Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-AlpecinRow 7 - Cell 2
9Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 8 - Cell 2
10Rasmus Guldhammer (Den) Cult Energy Pro CyclingRow 9 - Cell 2
11Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 10 - Cell 2
12Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro TeamRow 11 - Cell 2
13Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN - QhubekaRow 12 - Cell 2
14Elia Viviani (Ita) Team SkyRow 13 - Cell 2
15Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team0:00:01
16Ralf Matzka (Ger) Bora-Argon 18Row 15 - Cell 2
17Luka Pibernik (Slo) Lampre-MeridaRow 16 - Cell 2
18Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling TeamRow 17 - Cell 2
19Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC Racing TeamRow 18 - Cell 2
20Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) IAM CyclingRow 19 - Cell 2
21Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM CyclingRow 20 - Cell 2
22Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 21 - Cell 2
23Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro TeamRow 22 - Cell 2
24Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-AlpecinRow 23 - Cell 2
25Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling TeamRow 24 - Cell 2
26Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team0:00:02
27Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 26 - Cell 2
28Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.frRow 27 - Cell 2
29Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Tinkoff-SaxoRow 28 - Cell 2
30Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team0:00:03
31Ben Swift (GBr) Team SkyRow 30 - Cell 2
32Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale0:00:05
33Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Team KatushaRow 32 - Cell 2
34Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal0:00:06
35Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Giant-AlpecinRow 34 - Cell 2
36Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step0:00:07
37Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-SaxoRow 36 - Cell 2
38Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) FDJ.fr0:00:08
39Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin0:00:16
40Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team0:00:21
41Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing TeamRow 40 - Cell 2
42Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team0:00:22
43Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM CyclingRow 42 - Cell 2
44Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing0:00:25
45Scott Thwaites (GBr) Bora-Argon 180:00:29
46Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal0:00:34
47Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge0:00:43
48Marco Haller (Aut) Team Katusha0:00:57
49Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Argon 180:01:02
50Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal0:01:08
51Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team0:01:09
52Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdgeRow 51 - Cell 2
53Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 52 - Cell 2
54Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 53 - Cell 2
55Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN - Qhubeka0:01:10
56Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNL-JumboRow 55 - Cell 2
57Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Cult Energy Pro CyclingRow 56 - Cell 2
58Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-SaxoRow 57 - Cell 2
59Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling0:01:20
60Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana Pro Team0:01:23
61Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Team Sky0:01:24
62Sébastien Turgot (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale0:01:29
63Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team KatushaRow 62 - Cell 2
64Ion Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team0:02:07
65Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin0:02:14
66Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step0:02:41
67Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Etixx - Quick-Step0:03:07
68Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica GreenEdge0:03:30
69Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Team Katusha0:03:53
70Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Cult Energy Pro Cycling0:04:03
71Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge0:04:04
72Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM CyclingRow 71 - Cell 2
73Campbell Flakemore (Aus) BMC Racing Team0:04:05
74Rudiger Selig (Ger) Team Katusha0:04:07
75Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo0:04:53
76Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka0:05:33
77Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto SoudalRow 76 - Cell 2
78Stig Broeckx (Bel) Lotto Soudal0:05:34
79Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory RacingRow 78 - Cell 2
80Jan Polanc (Slo) Lampre-MeridaRow 79 - Cell 2
81Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-MeridaRow 80 - Cell 2
82Evgeny Petrov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo0:05:35
83Nikolay Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-SaxoRow 82 - Cell 2
84Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling TeamRow 83 - Cell 2
85Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro TeamRow 84 - Cell 2
86Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team0:05:36
87Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Argon 18Row 86 - Cell 2
88Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Alpecin0:07:07
89Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo0:07:15
90Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky0:07:16
91Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Giant-AlpecinRow 90 - Cell 2
92Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale0:08:20
93Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale0:08:21
94Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) Team KatushaRow 93 - Cell 2
95Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM CyclingRow 94 - Cell 2
96Ian Stannard (GBr) Team SkyRow 95 - Cell 2
97Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky0:08:22
98Rasmus Christian Quaade (Den) Cult Energy Pro CyclingRow 97 - Cell 2
99Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) Cult Energy Pro CyclingRow 98 - Cell 2
100Paul Martens (Ger) Team LottoNL-JumboRow 99 - Cell 2
101Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 100 - Cell 2
102Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 101 - Cell 2
103Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling0:08:23
104Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory RacingRow 103 - Cell 2
105Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx - Quick-StepRow 104 - Cell 2
106Andrew Fenn (GBr) Team SkyRow 105 - Cell 2
107Thomas Leezer (Ned) Team LottoNL-JumboRow 106 - Cell 2
108Nick Van Der Lijke (Ned) Team LottoNL-JumboRow 107 - Cell 2
109Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ.frRow 108 - Cell 2
110Jan Barta (Cze) Bora-Argon 180:08:24
111Paul Voss (Ger) Bora-Argon 18Row 110 - Cell 2
112Eugenio Alafaci (Ita) Trek Factory RacingRow 111 - Cell 2
113Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18Row 112 - Cell 2
114Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La MondialeRow 113 - Cell 2
115Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team0:08:25
116Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Soudal0:09:17
117Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN - QhubekaRow 116 - Cell 2
118Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN - QhubekaRow 117 - Cell 2
119Aleksei Tsatevich (Rus) Team KatushaRow 118 - Cell 2
120Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale0:09:18
121Maxime Daniel (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 120 - Cell 2
122Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM CyclingRow 121 - Cell 2
123Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Trek Factory RacingRow 122 - Cell 2
124Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling TeamRow 123 - Cell 2
125Moreno Hofland (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo0:09:19
126Michael Reihs (Den) Cult Energy Pro CyclingRow 125 - Cell 2
127Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdgeRow 126 - Cell 2
128Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar Team0:13:28
129Martin Mortensen (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling0:15:05
130Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar TeamRow 129 - Cell 2

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