Giant-Shimano’s John Degenkolb runner up in 2014 Paris-Roubaix

Giant-Shimano’s John Degenkolb sprinted to second place behind the solo winner Niki Terpstra (OPQS) at today’s Paris – Roubaix.

John made the front split of five riders in the latter stages of the race before being joined by Bert De Backer from the chase group behind. Bert immediately hit the front but when Terpstra jumped in the final kilometres he struggled to close the gap.

Coming into the velodrome in Roubaix Terpstra had nearly 20 seconds gap and it was a race for second. With Bert leading out, John sprinted to second place in what is his final spring classic before focusing on goals a bit further into the season.

The race went perfectly once again for Team Giant-Shimano, staying out of trouble behind the day’s breakaway and then working together to position themselves at the front at the key sectors of cobbles.

Despite a few set backs on the punishing cobbles, John and Bert were positioned at the front for when the race split. John was in the front group of five and Bert in the chase behind, keeping out of the wind and in reserve for John if and when it came back together.

The two groups joined up in the final 10km from which Terpstra put in the winning attack. Behind, the chase couldn’t bring him back and it was a sprint of second on the wooden boards of the Roubaix velodrome where John sprinted to a superb second place.

Reaction

Amongst the crowds and euphoria, John took a moment to say: “I’m so proud of this result, and of the way my team rode and supported me today. This is my first podium in a monument and it is such a great feeling.

“I had a few problems but with the help of my team I managed to fight back on and then at the end had the strength to go with the front group. Bert was really important to have there in the finale and he put me in the perfect position for the sprint.

“On the run in I decided to focus on the sprint rather than trying to go with Terpstra. I am still young and have time to develop more.

“It is such a great moment – second in Paris – Roubaix and I am just 25 years old. I cannot wait for what the future holds. I also hope that I can also motivate the younger generation of cyclists in Germany.”

Team Giant-Shimano coach, Marc Reef said after the finish: “Today was amazing. The whole team were great and to get second at Paris – Roubaix is testament to all the hard work that everyone in this team has put in over the past few years to get us to where we are today.

“We knew that we had a strong line-up here and the plan was to focus on John. We also had a bit of bad luck out there but the guys kept calm and helped John to get back to the front when he needed to. Staying calm was key and also riding as a team as so much happens in this race. Ramon Sinkeldam had to change bikes because of a crash and came back but then crashed again, and at the same time Koen de Kort punctured so we lost them.

“Over one of the latter sectors John got himself in the front split of five which was ideal for us but when the groups joined up it was more dangerous for us. But with Bert there to help John we were still in a good position. At the end they worked well to set up the sprint and John finished it off perfectly.

“I’m unbelievably proud of how the guys rode today.”

Bert De Backer, who eventually came across the line in 11th place, said after the finish: “Now everything has calmed down a bit I am really happy with the result today, but at first I was disappointed in myself not to have been able to close the gap when Terpstra went.

“Seeing John so happy after the finish was a great feeling for me and the rest of the team. Throughout the day I felt great on the cobbles, and the bike felt so smooth. One of the strong points for the team in our preparation is that we had a lot of input into the tyre pressures and set up for today. The mechanics have worked day and night for the past three days to get everything ready for today and we have to thank them too.

“It’s a great way to end the cobbled classics after a really succesful past few weeks and we can go into the next races now with confidence in each other and how we work as a team.”