The Frenchman took the biggest success of his career in a one-day race
16-Aug-2026: Paul Magnier delivered Soudal Quick-Step’s fifth victory at the ADAC Cyclassics with a perfectly executed sprint in the final 200 meters of this 29th edition. Third here last year, Magnier benefited from the flawless work of his teammates throughout the day, and especially in the closing part of the race, before unleashing his incredible sprint on the famous Mönckebergstraße to capture his seventh win of the season.
It was a fast day in the saddle, animated by a breakaway that formed soon after the start in Buxtehude and which the teams aiming for a mass gallop controlled and brought back before the last time up the Waseberg, the short but steep hill that has become synonymous to the race over the years. On the fifth ascent there, several teams tried to split the race and managed to do that, dropping some of the sprinters, but Paul Magnier had no problems making it over the top and continuing with the newly-formed front group.
Soudal Quick-Step had several riders there who kept the 22-year-old out of the wind, while at the same time pushing hard to stretch the peloton and not allow the chasers to come back. Jasper Stuyven once again did a perfect job when it came to launching Paul Magnier, who gave no chance to his opponents and won by a clear margin.
“I’m proud to take my first victory in a World Tour one-day race. I want to thank my team, they did an amazing job the whole day, bringing the escapees back and keeping it together by pulling hard so that no one attacked in the last part of the race. In the final kilometer, the guys put me in a perfect position from where I could launch my sprint. It gives me great pleasure to win here in Hamburg, on a course that suited me and in a prestigious race where so many great sprinters have tasted success in the past three decades”, an elated Paul said before the podium ceremony.
