I have been rethinking transportation from Hamburg to Lille. It can be done by train, which is good since the driving distance is 356 miles. Here is the best schedule:
Train 515 5:38AM (note - there is an earlier train at 523am but there wold be no little gain from taking it)
Hamburg Hbf
9:46AM
Koeln Hbf,
4hr 8min
Thalys9428 10:44AM
Koeln Hbf,
12:32PM
Bruxelles Midi,
1hr 48min
Train9828 12:49PM
Bruxelles Midi,
1:23PM
Lille
0hr 34min
There are other trains, but they tend to have outlandish out-of-the-way routes and much longer transit times.
The above suggests that maybe teams flew from Hamburg to Lille. That is a reasonable option. Here are the schedules:
AF3231 HAM LYS 0610 0815 via Lyon
AF7813 LYS LIL 0845 0955
AF3231 HAM CDG 0710 0845
AF7813 CDG XDB (this is really a train connection from CDG to the train station at Lille airport) 1027 1128
AF3233 HAM LYS 1220 1405
AF7815 LYS LIL 1530 1645
AF3235 HAM LYS 1745 1930
AF7817 LYS LIL 1955 2110