John Degenkolb proved that he is much more than a pure sprinter when he was the only rider that could keep up with Geraint Thomas and Niki Terpstra on the Oude Kwaremont in yesterday's E3 Harelbeke. In the end he lacked a bit of power and got dropped on the penultimate climb but the performance sets him up for a strong showing in the Tour of Flanders.

John Degenkolb and Dries Devenyns showed strong promise in a tough E3 Harelbeke today with Degenkolb getting in the main move before fading towards the finish.

The day’s break consisted of just five riders and it was the usual case of calm before the storm as the peloton settled in behind. As the pace picked up, several crashes littered the peloton. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg was unfortunately involved and this spelt race over on his part as the leaders pulled away.

Drevenyns and Degenkolb were well positioned before the key point of the race, the Patersberg and Degenkolb was one of the strongest on the climb and pulled ahead in a small, powerful move.

He got himself into a strong selection of three in the final 30km, which soon bridged up to the front of the race. This group was then joined by eventual race winner Peter Sagan (Cannondale) but it split on the penultimate climb of the day.

Degenkolb didn’t quite have the legs to stick with the front split and ended up chasing hard before being caught by the group behind which contained Devenyns.

Once back together, Devenyns set about chasing for Degenkolb and managed to reduce the gap by 20-seconds to around half a minute but the front four proved too hard to catch and they stayed away to contest the win.

Behind, both Degenkolb and Devenyns were spent come the sprint for seventh.

Devenyns, one of the main players of the race said:

“It was quite nervy out there today with all the crashes but in the final we were in a good position.

“We chased hard but only Stijn Devolder was willing to help so it was two against four. It’s a shame to come away from the race without a result but there will be more opportunities.

“Sunday will be a completely different race and I wouldn’t be surprised if the race comes down to a bunch sprint of about 50 or 60 riders, especially if the weather conditions are settled like today.”

Team Giant-Shimano coach, Aike Visbeek said:

“It was a tough day out there today with the crashes and nervous peloton. The plan was to get Dries, John and Reinardt in a good position before the Patersberg as that was a key climb.

“Unfortunately Reinardt came down before the climb and that was his race over but John and Dries were well positioned. When John lost contact with the front group the difference was very small but he was slightly lacked a bit of power to go with the move.

"Overall the guys did a good race but we come out empty handed which is always a bit disappointing. It sets the guys off on a good foot for the upcoming races.”