Tour de France: Degenkolb wins much-feared stage in Roubaix
15 July 2018 03:21
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 9 of the Tour de France in Roubaix, outsprinting yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Yves Lampaert (Quick Step Floors) after a tough day over the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. The win marks the end of Degenkolb’s long road back to the big stage after he and five other Giant-Alpecin riders were hospitalised after a training camp accident in Spain in January 2016. The riders were hit by an driver on the wrong side of the road, with Degenkolb almost losing a finger as a result. A crash-heavy day ended with Degenkolb, Van Avermaet and Lampaert escaping on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector, 17km from the line. In the peloton, there was no answer to the trio of specialists going up the road, though Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) did try a move later on.ADVERTISEMENT While the Slovak would end up taking fifth behind Philippe Gilbert (Quick Step Floors), up front it was a cagey affair, with no real attempts to launch a race-winning attack before the line. With an advantage of a minute heading into the final five kilometres, they could afford to play tactics, too. Come the sprint though, neither man could overhaul Degenkolb, who led the group for the final kilometre before leading them over the line. Degenkolb, enjoying his first WorldTour win since the final stage of the 2015 Vuelta a España, was clearly emotional and struggling for words in the post-race interview. “Pure happiness,” he responded when asked about his feelings. “Really, I was chasing this victory for so long and it’s really hard to describe. How it happened
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