Pre-race favourite Marcel Kittel (Team Giant–Alpecin) was dropped on the final climb, while Mark Cavendish (Etixx–Quick-Step) was caught up in a crash with 3 kilometres (2 mi) remaining.

Kristoff started the sprint, but André Greipel (Lotto–Soudal) was able to follow him and come past to take his first victory in a one-day World Tour race.

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the race, the organizers picked a new route, starting on board of the ferry MS Stena Scandinavica in the harbour of Kiel,[3] and heading in a southwesterly direction towards Hamburg.

"[6] The World Tour came to Germany in the midst of a "renaissance" in German cycling, with the latest successes rejuvenating the country's interest in the sport after a series of setbacks during the past, doping-stricken years.

The event was forced to search for a new sponsor to provide the estimated 800,000 Euro previously supplied by Vattenfall, about a third of the race's budget.

[15] The main non-German favourites for the win were the previous year's winner Alexander Kristoff, (Team Katusha) and Mark Cavendish (Etixx–Quick-Step).

While Kristoff came from a "disappointing Tour de France",[4] Cavendish could count on the support of teammates Mark Renshaw and Tom Boonen, who was preparing for the Road World Championships in late September.

Other riders in contention for the victory were Ben Swift, Elia Viviani (both Team Sky), Michael Albasini (Orica–GreenEDGE), Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale), Sacha Modolo (Lampre–Merida), Moreno Hofland (LottoNL–Jumbo), and Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek Factory Racing).

[5] Shortly after the peloton left the ferry in Kiel's harbour, an early breakaway formed, including Jan Bárta (Bora–Argon 18), Matteo Bono (Lampre–Merida), Alex Dowsett (Movistar Team), and Martin Mortensen (Cult Energy Pro Cycling).

The group was able to establish a lead of up to five minutes, while MTN–Qhubeka controlled the pace in the field for most of the day, before Lotto–Soudal and Etixx–Quick-Step joined them at the front for their respective team captains.

[18] Another late attack came from Linus Gerdemann (Cult Energy Pro Cycling) and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx–Quick-Step), but they were unable to build a significant gap, and were reeled back in with 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to go.