CyclingQuotes.com uses cookies for statistics and targeting ads. This information is shared with third parties.
ACCEPT COOKIES » MORE INFO »

Every day we bring you more pro-cycling news

Showing amazing power, Kristoff launched a long sprint at the end of the Vattenfall Cyclassics to easily hold off Nizzolo and Gerrans and take his second big classics win of the year

Photo: ARN/P.Perreve

ALEXANDER KRISTOFF

RIDER PROFILE
|
NEWS

BEMER CYCLASSICS

RACE PROFILE
|
NEWS

GIACOMO NIZZOLO

RIDER PROFILE
|
NEWS

SIMON GERRANS

RIDER PROFILE
|
NEWS
24.08.2014 @ 18:29 Posted by Emil Axelgaard

In today’s Vattenfall Cyclassics, Milan-Sanremo winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) proved that he is in a class of his own when it comes to sprinting at the end of a long, hard race. Less than half a year after his victory in La Primavera, he launched a powerful sprint down the Mönckebergstrasse and easily held off Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) and Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) to take his second big classics win of the year.

 

Last year Alexander Kristoff won the sprint for the minor positions in Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix to prove that he is a master at sprinting at the end of the classics. This year he has turned those minor results into wins, most notably with his dominant victory in Milan-Sanremo.

 

Today he added another big classics victory to his palmares when he took a convincing victory in the Vattenfall Cyclassics. The Norwegian launched a long sprint when a pretty big field powered down the Mönckebergstrasse in Hamburg and easily beat Giacomo Nizzolo and Simon Gerrans to take his first win in the German race.

 

Already earlier in the race, Kristoff had shown his immense power. While André Greipel was dropped and Mark Cavendish, Arnaud Demare and Marcel Kittel were suffering, Kristoff was one of the 10 first riders to crest the summit of the race’s landmark climb, the Waseberg, for the fourth and final time. From there, he asked his teammates to take control and it was Katusha that brought things together for the final bunch sprint.

 

Cavendish and Kittel had both made it to the top with the best while more riders managed to rejoin the peloton inside the final 5km. However, Katusha never lost confidence in their sprinter and remained in control until Danilo Hondo (Trek) hit the front with less than 2km to go.

 

However, it was Mathew Hayman who led the peloton under the flamme rouge, bringing Gerrans into the perfect position. At this point, Kristoff was a bit far back but he hit the wind to move onto the wheel of the Australian champion.

 

Silvan Dillier (BMC) started his sprint but Kristoff made his effort just moments later. From there the outcome was never in doubt and the Norwegian held off his rivals easily.

 

Cavendish was in a good position for the sprint but had to settle for 5th while Kittel came fast from far back to take 6th. Greipel never made it back to the front and abandoned the race.

 

Kristoff will get another chance to add to his tally next Sunday when he lines up at the next major WorldTour one-day race. The GP Plouay is held on a hillier course that should suit the Norwegian even better.

 

A tradirional course

The 2014 edition of the Vattenfall Cyclassics was held on a courset hat was virtually identical to the one used for the past two editions. At 247.2km, it was a very long race that started with a flat circuit on the southern outskirts of Hamburg. Having done another circuit that included the first passage of the steep 15% Waseberg, the riders ended their stage by doing a few laps on a circuit with the famed ascent for a total of four passages. After the top, 15 flat kilometres back to the Mönckebergstrasse in Hamburg remained.

 

Bad weather had been forecasted for the race but when the riders took the start, the sun was actually shining. After the opening attacks, three riders managed to get clear as Ralf Matzka (NetApp), Björn Thurau (Europcar) and Niccolo Bonifazio (Lampre-Merida) gained an advantage.

 

A big gap

As it is often the case in such a long race, the escapees were allowed to build a massive gap that reached a maximum of 10.50 before Boris Vallee (Lotto), Albert Timmer (Giant) and Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) started to chase. The trio worked well together to gradually reduce the advantage of the escapees.

 

As the riders hit the Waseberg for the first time with 109km to go, the gap had been brought down to 6.30. However, the peloton took it pretty easy on the steep slopes, with Timmer setting a steady pace all the way to the top, and when the escapees crossed the finish line for the second time with 94km to go, they were still 6.20 ahead.

 

Greipel crashes

With 80km to go, the peloton started to get a bit more nervous and more teams moved to the front to be in a good position for the next passage of the Waseberg. At this point, Greipel hit the deck and even though he seemed to be unhurt, it took some time to rejoin the peloton.

 

When the riders hit the climb, the gap had come down to 3.45 and FDJ now decided that they wanted a harder race. Yoann Offredo accelerated on the slopes and as soon as they had crested the summit, David Boucher started to ride hard on the front.

 

Isaychev and Boucher lead the chase

The Frenchman got some assistance from Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha) and those two riders worked ahrd for a long time. At the next passage of the line, the gap was 3.25 but as the battle for position again started to intensify, it started to melt away.

 

With 39km to go, the gap was just 1.40 and this prompted Thurau to attack. Bonifazio responded immediately but Matzka fell back to the peloton.

 

The break is caught

Isaychev and Boucher had now blown up and instead it was a big fight for position with teams like Lampre, Belkin, Giant, OPQS and Tinkoff-Saxo riding next to each other on the front. OPQS briefly took control with Guillaume Van Keisbulck but when the riders turned onto the narrow roads for the Waseberg, it was Tinkoff-Saxo on the front.

 

Marcel Sieberg (Lotto) got an unintentional gap and he was a few metres ahead when the riders turned onto the Waseberg. He quickly sat up while Bonifazio dropped Thurau who fell back to the peloton.

 

A new break is formed

Julian Alaphilippe (OPQS) launched a strong attack with Simon Yates (Orica) as the peloton was now splitting to pieces. Greipel almost lost contact with the group and was clearly suffering.

 

Alaphilippe and Yates passed Bonifazio and were joined by a few riders, including Simon Geschke, Marco Marcato, Jens Keukeleire, Matteo Trentin and Pavel Brutt. Alaphilippe attacked again but Yates was quick to respond and join him.

 

Katusha take control

Marcato and Manuele Boaro were the next to make the junction before Trenting made it a front quintet. Katusha had now started to chase and they brought the chase group back.

 

For a long time, Pavel Brutt set the pace but he lost ground to the leaders who were now 20 seconds ahead. However, he finally got some assistance from Bernhard Eisel (Sky) and now the balance tipped in favour of the peloton.

 

Back together on the Waseberg

With 19km to go, Boaro made an attack and he started to gain time on his chasers. As he hit the Waseberg, he was the lone leader while Marcato and Trentin were dropped from the chase group.

 

While Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) attacked from the peloton, Alaphilippe bridged the gap to Boaro but at the top of the climb, they were all brought back by a 30-rider peloton that included Kristoff, Kittel and Cavendish but not Arnaud Demare and Greipel.

 

Boasson Hagen and Van Avermaet give it a go

The attacking continued with Van Avermaet, Paul Voss, Francesco Gavazzi, David Tanner, and Manuele Mori giving it a go and it was Mori, Keukeleire, Tanner, Gavazzi and Enrico Gasparotto who got a gap.

 

Edvald Boasson Hagen and Van Avermaet passed the quintet but as the latter refused to contribute to the pace-setting, they were passed by Jack Bauer (Garmin) who opened a small gap. Meanwhile, Giant-Shimano had started to chase, knowing that Kittel was still in a good position.

 

More riders bridge the gap

Andriy Grivko (Astana) bridged the gap while Orica-GreenEDGE started to work with the Giant riders. Yoann Offredo (FDJ) was the next rider to join the leaders.

 

Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff) launched a strong attack but he has Reinardt van Rensburg (Giant) on his wheel. With Marcato, Bryan Coquard and Paul Voss, they joined the front group but with 5km to go, Katusha had brought things back together.

 

Offredo, Roche and Van Avermaet all tried to get clear but Van Rensburg marked everything closely and with 3km to go, Pavel Brutt brought all escapees back. The Russian continued to ride hard until his teammate Marco Haller took over with 2km. Later Hondo hit the front to set the scene for an exciting sprint that was won by Kristoff.

MORE NEWS:

VIEW SELECTED

Bycykling 101: Navigering i byens gader og cykelvenlige... 27.11.2023 @ 12:11The Best Danish Cyclist To Bet On At 2022 Tour De France 13.01.2022 @ 15:262022 Upcoming Tournament Overview 03.01.2022 @ 09:45Best Place to Find Stand-Up Paddleboards 16.06.2021 @ 08:16What are Primoz Roglic’s Chances to Win 2021 Tour de Fr... 17.03.2021 @ 08:37Amazing victory by young champion Sarah Gigante 04.02.2021 @ 14:21Three reasons why cycling is one of the best ways to ex... 28.09.2020 @ 12:03Why do businesses use meeting room managers? 14.09.2020 @ 13:42Five things that you can do, if you want to gain more f... 20.08.2020 @ 15:38One for the road 09.06.2020 @ 15:25List of CyclingQuotes previews 07.05.2020 @ 13:20Blue Energy: room for all interests 26.08.2019 @ 12:56Get your daily dose of exercise at home 08.07.2019 @ 10:443 good advice to be able to afford your favorite bike 25.02.2019 @ 12:32Cycle through gorgeous landscapes 22.10.2018 @ 21:41Balance Your Economy and Diet and Start Saving Money 08.10.2018 @ 11:18Stay Safe: 3 Helmets That Can Keep Your Head Protected... 20.07.2018 @ 07:59Planning to bet on Tour De France - Bet types and strat... 24.05.2018 @ 14:18Basics of cycling betting 25.10.2017 @ 13:10Bauer moves to ORICA-SCOTT 28.08.2017 @ 10:45End of the road for CyclingQuotes 08.01.2017 @ 16:00Rui Costa confirms Giro participation 07.01.2017 @ 12:55Van Avermaet: I am not afraid of Sagan 07.01.2017 @ 09:45Unchanged course for E3 Harelbeke 07.01.2017 @ 09:32Jenner takes surprise win at Australian U23 Championships 07.01.2017 @ 08:53No replacement for Meersman at Fortuneo-Vital Concept 06.01.2017 @ 19:14Barguil with two goals in 2017 06.01.2017 @ 19:06More details about French Vuelta start emerges 06.01.2017 @ 14:16Kristoff to start season at Etoile de Besseges 06.01.2017 @ 14:10Ion Izagirre announces schedule for first year at Bahrain 06.01.2017 @ 12:40JLT Condor optimistic for Herald Sun Tour 06.01.2017 @ 09:19Haas leads Dimension Data trio in fight for Australian... 06.01.2017 @ 09:15Sagan spearheads Bora-hansgrohe at Tour Down Under 06.01.2017 @ 09:12Henao and Thomas lead Sky Down Under 06.01.2017 @ 09:09Bauer crowned New Zealand TT champion 06.01.2017 @ 08:33Van der Poel ready to defend Dutch title 05.01.2017 @ 21:00Pantano ambitious for first Tour with Trek 05.01.2017 @ 20:41Landa with new approach to the Giro 05.01.2017 @ 20:36Sunweb Development Team sign Goos and Zepuntke 05.01.2017 @ 20:27Dumoulin confirms Giro participation 05.01.2017 @ 20:19Bauer targets victories in Quick-Step debut 05.01.2017 @ 20:16Gaviria and Boonen lead Quick-Step in San Juan 05.01.2017 @ 20:13Team Sunweb presented in Germany 05.01.2017 @ 20:09ASO take over major German WorldTour race 05.01.2017 @ 11:01Team Sunweb unveil new jersey 05.01.2017 @ 10:54Reactions from the Australian TT Championships 05.01.2017 @ 08:27Dennis defends Australian TT title 05.01.2017 @ 08:21Scotson takes back to back U23 TT titles in Australia 05.01.2017 @ 08:15Utrecht on track to host 2020 Vuelta 04.01.2017 @ 18:28Pre-season setback for Talansky 04.01.2017 @ 17:56Kristoff: It's not impossible for me to win in Rou... 04.01.2017 @ 17:49Boom close to first cyclo-cross win in LottoNL debut 04.01.2017 @ 17:40UAE Abu Dhabi make late signing of Arab rider 04.01.2017 @ 17:36UAE Abu Dhabi unveil new jersey 04.01.2017 @ 17:30BMC unveil race schedule 04.01.2017 @ 17:21

Currently no news in this list

Andre ROOS
22 years | today
Jeroen KREGEL
39 years | today
André VITAL
42 years | today
Shinpei FUKUDA
37 years | today
Shao Yung CHIANG
40 years | today

© CyclingQuotes.com