In 1997 Jan Ullrich won the second edition amid hordes of fans, two weeks after winning the Tour de France, and the race gained prestige fast.

[8][9] In 2002, Belgian classics specialist Johan Museeuw won his eleventh and last World Cup race, leading out the sprint from a group of ten.

Some of the best sprinters of their generation, including Robbie McEwen, Óscar Freire, Alexander Kristoff and André Greipel, are among the winners of the race.

Hamburg residents were upset with Vattenfall's environmental policies and its attempts to acquire ownership of the local power grid.

[14] In 2015 it was announced that Vattenfall would not extend its partnership with the Hamburg Cyclassics, forcing organizers to search for a new sponsor to provide the estimated 800.000 Euro, a third of the race's budget.

[17] The race usually starts on the Steinstraße in Hamburg-Altstadt and finishes on Mönckebergstraße, Hamburg's illustrious shopping street in the city's busy commercial district.

The course's most significant difficulty is Waseberg hill in Blankenese, a suburban quarter of Altona, west of Hamburg's city centre.

As teams try to position their captains in the front of the peloton, riders often rush furiously over the narrow roads leading to the foot of the climb.

The total distance was shortened to 222 kilometres (137.9 mi), but the final approach into Hamburg, with three ascents of the Waseberg and the finish on the Mönckebergstraße, remained the same.