WorldTour
Laurence Pithie sprints onto the Cyclassics podium
Strong teamwork in Hamburg: Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe executes its Waseberg strategy to perfection and puts Laurence Pithie in position to sprint to third place.
In recent years, Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe has consistently been in contention for a top result at the Cyclassics. At the German home classic, just one result was missing to complete every position in the top five. Laurence Pithie filled that gap today, with the New Zealander sprinting to third place.
Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe’s Hamburg success record
Year
Rider
Result
2026
3.
2025
5.
2024
4.
2023
Danny van Poppel
2.
2022
Marco Haller
1.
The road to the podium was built around a clear strategy: the five ascents of the Waseberg were meant to make the race hard enough to take the pure sprinters out of contention for the win. The perfect scenario for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe was a reduced bunch with three of the team’s riders still in the mix. And that is exactly how the race unfolded.
After the final ascent of the Waseberg, around 50 riders remained in the front group. Among them were Mick van Dijke, Danny van Poppel and Laurence Pithie. Many of the sprinters who had started the race among the favourites, however, were no longer there.
Teamwork to the Podium
The trio stayed patient for a long time, saving energy for the finale. As the race entered its decisive phase, Mick van Dijke moved his teammates into the top ten positions. Then Danny van Poppel took over. With Laurence Pithie on his wheel, he moved to the front of the bunch with 500 metres to go and launched the sprint. Pithie completed the strong team performance by taking third place.
Laurence Pithie sprintet in Hamburg
© Getty Images
Laurence Pithie at the finish: “We had a super strong team here, and all the boys were in to support me. Once I saw Danny and Mick in the front group, I knew it could be possible to go for a very nice result. We waited a long time, but with 3km to go, we made our move from almost the back and did a nice sprint in the end.”
