Luck of the Irish at ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg 2025! Rory Townsend holds on for dramatic win from the breakaway

The luck of the Irish has shone on Rory Townsend this Sunday afternoon as the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team star won in a dramatic finale to the 2025 ADAC Cyclassics Hamburg from the breakaway. 

A four-man group of Dries De Pooter (Intermarché - Wanty), Johan Jacobs (Groupama - FDJ), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar Team) and Irish national champion Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) broke free early to give the peloton something to chase. The bunch didn't seem too interested in chasing hard early on though, and as a result, the attackers' advantage at 80km to go was over five minutes.

The situation began to shift around 110km to go when Alpecin-Deceuninck, Soudal - Quick-Step, UAE Team Emirates - XRG, and Lidl-Trek moved to the front and began to work in earnest. Their tempo began to eat into the lead, bringing it down to 4:50, but the break responded with tenacity. Even as the chase continued, the gap briefly crept back out to 5:20, underlining the cohesion and commitment in the front group.

The race took a decisive turn as the peloton approached the second ascent of Waseberg — a short but explosive climb of 700m at 9.1%. The ramp sparked the expected tension and forced a selection in the bunch. Astana and INEOS Grenadiers moved up to fight for position, and the pace increase reduced the gap to the leaders to just over four minutes. The major shock came as Jonathan Milan — last year's runner-up and arguably the day’s top favourite — was dropped on the climb. The fast-finishing Italian couldn’t hold the surging tempo, effectively ending his chances with over 60km still to race.

Following the climb, a group of five riders — Mathias Vacek, Toon Aerts, Jonas Abrahamsen, Adrien Touzé, and Robert Stannard — attempted to bridge across to the leaders. They hovered around three minutes behind the break, with the peloton just 15 seconds further adrift. But despite their strong credentials, the group was eventually reeled back in by the bunch.

At the 50km mark, the breakaway’s lead had dropped to 2:10, but once again, the front quartet showed their grit. Over the next 10km, they managed to edge the gap back up to three minutes, defying expectations and keeping their hopes alive heading into the final climbs.

By the time the penultimate ascent of the Waseberg began, the break's lead was down once again to under two minutes. By the time the last ascent began at around 15km to go, it was less than a minute between the leaders and the chase. In the bunch behind, the likes of Vacek, Isaac del Toro and Paul Magnier came to the fore on the climb, causing a split.

Although things came back together, these accelerations had brought the break, now down to just 3 with De Pooter dropped, within 17 seconds at 10km to go. Still though, Oliveira, Townsend and Jacobs were proving difficult for the peloton to fully close down, stretching their lead back out to over 20 seconds with 5km to go.

By 3km from the finish line, the time gap had swung again with the peloton back to within 10 seconds. Had the bunch timed their chase to perfection, or had they left it a little too late?

The leader's were still clear inside the last kilometre, and in a thrilling finale, Rory Townsend kicked clear of his companions, holding off the sprint of the peloton to take arguably the biggest victory of his career ahead of