The day before Paris-Roubaix, John Degenkolb told reporters that he didn’t need to attack in order to win. As it turned out, he did need to chase, however, and amid the tumult of the final 10 kilometres of the race, that amounted to more or less the same thing.
With late escapees Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) 10 seconds up the road, Degenkolb found himself in an eerily similar predicament to last year. On that occasion, he finished second after finding himself without allies in the chasing group as Niki Terpstra drifted clear. As the kilometres ticked down towards the velodrome this time around, it seemed as though his chance had again passed him by.
One can never step in the same river twice, however, least of all at Paris-Roubaix. Aided initially by Giant-Alpecin teammate Bert De Backer, Degenkolb managed to bridge across alone to the two escapees, and though four more managed to beat a path across in the final two kilometres, the result was never truly in doubt.
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“If other riders know you’re fast, they don’t want to bring you to the finish line,” Degenkolb said. “In the end, if I had waited and hadn’t gone, my result wouldn’t have been better than last year. So I decided, now is the moment – all or nothing. It was 10k [to the finish] and everybody was on the limit in the toughest race in the year by far, but I felt there was still something in the tank.”
Not since 1997 had so many riders entered the velodrome together to sprint for the victory, but there would be no Frédéric Guesdon-style upset here. The sprint respected form lines and pedigree, as Degenkolb beat Stybar and Van Avermaet by the proverbial street.
“I sprinted all the way to the line because I didn’t want to take any risks,” Degenkolb said. “This sprint is totally special and if you haven’t done it you’ve no idea what you’re talking about. You try to accelerate and immediately you realise your legs are like gummy.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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