Johan Jacobs close to a coup in Hamburg

Jacob's fellow escapee Rory Townsend fared better. After 207 km, the Irish champion saved a lead of less meters to the finish. Townsend triumphed ahead of the Belgian Arnaud De Lie and the Frenchman Paul Magnier and celebrated the biggest success of his career at the age of 30.

Townsend had already broken away from the field shortly after the start together with Jacobs and two other riders. The breakaway quartet built up a lead of five and a half minutes before the peloton, led by the sprinters' teams, stepped up the pace and reduced the gap to under 30 seconds with 15 km to go.

With 300 meters to go, Jacobs was no longer able to follow Townsend's decisive attack. While the Irishman held on to the lead with his last ounce of strength, Jacobs was dropped to 35th place. This meant that the 28-year-old from Zurich was only the fourth-best Swiss rider behind Fabio Christen (15th), Marc Hirschi (27th) and Jan Christen (29th).

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