In a stacked field of world class sprinters Irishman Rory Townsend won the ADAC Cyclassics in Hamburg on Sunday.
What. Just. Happened?
— Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team (@Q36_5ProCycling) August 17, 2025
Rory Townsend takes our very first WorldTour win!
Initiated the attack very early on in the race and stayed away with meters to spare! pic.twitter.com/JRK4h96uMG
It’s the first UCI World Tour win for the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team since the team started in 2023, and the 14th victory of the season.
When asked after the finish in the flash interview whether he expected to win a World Tour race, Townsend was still in shock and disbelief.
“No,” he said. “I can honestly say I did not. Jannik [Steimle] and I noticed there was a lot of interest in the early breakaway and we both kept an eye on the attacks. There was potential for a big group but in the end there were only four of us.”
🇮🇪 Rory Townsend stuns himself with Hamburg heist
— Domestique (@Domestique___) August 17, 2025
“I have a good sprint usually, and actually it’s quite good after a long day like this. I kicked with about 400m to go. I went as long as I could out of the saddle and then I went as aero as possible and tried to just hold on to… pic.twitter.com/4l0gpMxpII
Rory, Dries De Pooter, Johan Jacobs and Nelson Oliveira proved to be a particularly strong foursome and the gap went out to five minutes. Despite attacks on the penultimate lap, the gap remained stable and even went up again.
“I settled in for a day in the breakaway,” Townsend said. “I focused on the intermediate sprints and the goal was to aim for the penultimate time up the climb and then stay with the [first[ group as they caught us. But we kept going.”
🥇 Rory Townsend 🇮🇪
— CyclingTime (@Cyclingtimenews) August 17, 2025
🥈 Arnaud de Lie 🇧🇪
🥉 Paul Magnier 🇫🇷#ADACCyclassics pic.twitter.com/VhfgWGsytK
The win in Hamburg is the biggest win of Townsend's career to date. It’s the first Word Tour win for the team as well.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s just pure disbelief as you could see on my face when I crossed the line. I am still in shock. This is an incredibly proud moment. Winning a World Tour race, any race in my national colours is great. This is the cycling that inspired me in riders like Steve Cummings. Doing this myself now is just amazing.”