22/08/2016
Team Giant-Alpecin rider John Degenkolb sprinted to a podium finish at the Euroeyes Cyclassics Sunday, delivering a second-place result at his home country’s WorldTour race in Hamburg, Germany.
Wet weather and crashes made for a hectic finale in the 217km race through the streets of Hamburg, but despite losing some teammates Degenkolb was there to contend in the final sprint on his TCR Advanced SL.
“We were a little bit blocked and couldn’t prepare a perfect sprint, so I had to come from quite far,” said Degenkolb, who wore the Rivet aero road helmet to make the podium. “But I’m still happy with my sprint and happy to finish on the podium in Germany.”
A breakaway group of six riders escaped early and built up a lead of more than six minutes. That group nearly stayed away until the finish, but were finally caught inside the final kilometer. The field had already been split by one crash, and another crash inside the final 300 meters took out several more riders.
“It was a tricky race with the rain at the end and that made it pretty hectic,” said the team’s road captain Roy Curvers. “It was hard to really get control of the race with the laps on the Waseberg. In the end we tried to work it out with the lead-out and everybody gave everything they had. John came out in an OK position in the sprint. Not perfect, but it comes down to details.”
The podium finish was further confirmation that Degenkolb has returned to top form after missing the first half of the season with injuries. He also scored his first win of the year last week at the Arctic Race of Norway.
