Vattenfall Cyclassics

Vattenfall Cyclassics
Race details
Date Late July / August
Region Hamburg, Germany
Discipline Road race
Competition UCI World Tour
Type Single-day race
Organiser Upsolut Sports AG
Race director Erik Zabel
History
First edition 1996
Editions 18 (as of 2013)
First winner  Rossano Brasi (ITA)
Most wins  Tyler Farrar (USA) (2 wins)
Most recent  Alexander Kristoff (NOR)

The Vattenfall Cyclassics is an annual one-day pro and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg. It started as an unimportant race in 1996, but because of the fast-growing popularity of cycling in Germany, it was made a part of the UCI Road World Cup in 1998. Since 2005, it has been a part of the UCI ProTour, and in 2009 became one of the 24 races contributing points towards the UCI World Ranking.

The finale of the 2005 edition.

The route of the race varies, but is often around 250 km long. During a number of loops through Hamburg, the hill Waseberg is climbed a number of times. The route also includes Hamburg's highest bridge Köhlbrandbrücke.

The sponsor of the Cyclassics, the Hamburg electricity plant HEW, has adopted a new name (Vattenfall Europe Hamburg), and since 2006, this cycling race has been known as the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

An important part of the Cyclassics are the Jedermann-Rennen amateur/cyclosportif event run around the time that the race is held. Anybody (jedermann) can participate in these races over 55 km, 100 km and 155 km. The number of participants is however limited and a ticket must be reserved months in advance. In 2005 there were 20000 amateurs on the course.

The 2013 race had fierce protesting by locals upset with Vattenfall's environmental policies and Vattenfall's attempts to maintain ownership of the local power grid.[1]

Winners

HEW Cyclassics
Year Winner Team
1996 Italy Rossano Brasi Polti
1997 Germany Jan Ullrich Team Telekom
1998 Netherlands Léon van Bon Rabobank
1999 Italy Mirko Celestino Polti
2000 Italy Gabriele Missaglia Lampre
2001 Germany Erik Zabel Team Telekom
2002 Belgium Johan Museeuw Domo-Farm Frites
2003 Italy Paolo Bettini Quick Step-Davitamon
2004 Australia Stuart O'Grady Cofidis
2005 Italy Filippo Pozzato Quick Step-Innergetic
Vattenfall Cyclassics
Year Winner Team
2006 Spain Óscar Freire Rabobank
2007 Italy Alessandro Ballan Lampre-Fondital
2008 Australia Robbie McEwen Silence-Lotto
2009 United States Tyler Farrar Garmin-Slipstream
2010 United States Tyler Farrar Garmin-Transitions
2011 Norway Edvald Boasson Hagen Team Sky
2012 France Arnaud Démare FDJ-BigMat
2013 Germany John Degenkolb Argos-Shimano
2014 Norway Alexander Kristoff Team Katusha

References

  1. ↑ "Tschüss Vattenfall - Kletterprotest im Zielbereich der Cyclassics". Tschüss Vattenfall. Retrieved 13 September 2013.

External links

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