Sandy Dujardin delivers breakthrough win at Maryland Cycling Classic

Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) claimed the men’s Maryland Cycling Classic with a perfectly timed sprint from a reduced breakaway, beating Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor Pro Cycling) on Pratt Street.

The 24-year-old Frenchman came through in the final metres after a cagey finale, surviving rain, crashes, and even a flat tyre earlier in the day to take his biggest one-day victory to date.

“This means a lot for the team—we came all this way to the U.S. just for this race, and the goal was to win,” Dujardin said. “I knew Jonas was the fastest guy, so I had to be careful with my positioning. When he launched, I jumped straight on his wheel and then sprinted past. It worked perfectly.”

Abrahamsen, fresh off a victory at Circuit Franco-Belge, was forced to settle for second but noted the result could prove crucial toward Uno-X’s WorldTour ambitions. “It was so hard, but very nice to come to the States for the first time and get a podium,” he said. “Maybe I used too much energy at the start, but the legs were pretty good. I think I got 120 points today, so that’s pretty good. I hope we can make it into the WorldTour.”

How the race unfolded

The only UCI ProSeries one-day race in the United States returned for its third edition on a 172.8km circuit in Baltimore—six laps of a punchy 28.8km route featuring the steep climb past St. Mary’s Seminary, cobbles in Fells Point, and a flat run-in to the Inner Harbor.

The day began aggressively, with Fabian Weiss (Tudor) and veteran Oscar Sevilla (Medellín) escaping early, building a six-minute gap before being reeled back. Mid-race, rain swept across the course, slicking the descents and splitting the field into scattered groups. Then, as quickly as it came, the storm passed. The sun returned, and the humidity spiked, turning the circuit into a sticky test of endurance.

Among those forging ahead were Brandon McNulty (USA), Jonas Abrahamsen, Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech), Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), and eventually Dujardin himself, who bridged across after a puncture threatened to derail his race. Alone from his team in a move where most squads had multiple riders, Dujardin had to manage his efforts carefully.

EF’s Neilson Powless also saw his day unravel dramatically. After puncturing on the penultimate lap, neutral service’s wheels didn’t fit his setup, forcing him to shoulder his bike and run nearly 100 metres to the team car to grab a spare. He remounted quickly, but the extra effort under rising heat and humidity left him chasing and out of the final selection.

By the penultimate lap, the race had fractured into a 19-rider lead group, two minutes clear of the chasers. Attacks flew over the Seminary climb and into the downhill sections, with McNulty and Dujardin briefly prying open daylight before being reeled back by Abrahamsen, Schmid, Mayrhofer, and Larry Warbasse.

Heading into the final kilometer, Warbasse and Anders Halland Johannessen set a brutal tempo for their teammates. Abrahamsen launched first, but Dujardin, having marked his rival closely, pounced off his wheel and surged past in the last 100 meters to seal the win.

“It was a really tough race with all the weather changes and so many attacks,” Dujardin said. “But I knew I had a chance if I followed the right wheel. To win here is amazing for me and for the team.”

Men’s Top 10 – Maryland Cycling Classic 2025

1. Sandy Dujardin – 3:48:25

2. Jonas Abrahamsen – +0:00

3. Marius Mayrhofer – +0:00

4. Brandon McNulty – +0:00

5. Mauro Schmid – +0:00

6. Anders Halland Johannessen – +0:00

7. Larry Warbasse – +0:03

8. Guillaume Boivin – +0:38

9. Marijn van den Berg – +1:38

10. Matyas Kopecky – +1:38