One week ago, John Degenkolb had tears in his eyes when he punctured out of the lead group at the bottom of the Poggio at Milan-Samremo. Today he put all those disappointments behind him when he took what he described as the biggest win of his career.

John Degenkolb has made up for his disappointment at Milan-Sanremo last weekend with an emphatic victory at Gent-Wevelgem in Belgium.

The race came down to a bunch sprint and Degenkolb timed his effort to perfection, coming off the wheel to come past Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and launch his Giant across the line to take one of the biggest victories of his young career so far.

The team were made to work for it on what proved to be a hard, nervous race. As well as the testing parcours to tackle, there were crashes to avoid and a stong late attack of three riders which nearly foiled the chance of a sprint. Dries Devenyns was instrumental in the chase behind these three and did a great job to help bring the race back together before Koen de Kort and Ramon Sinkeldam came through at the end to set Degenkolb up for the finish.

After the race, Degenkolb said: “

This race is one of the really big classics and I am so happy to add Gent-Wevelgem to my palmares. The race worked out perfectly for us today. The guys were really strong and Dries did a great job chasing towards the end – he is really strong at the moment.

“Koen de Kort positioned me perfectly in the final, driving me onto Sagan’s wheel and I had the right position and could come through at the right time so it was a fantastic sprint. I am a very happy man.

"The final was very hectic. There was a big crash with 8km to go, when Farrar and Greipel were there. I just saw Farrar lying there, with his hands protecting his head. I could just come through the crash, I was lucky not to crash.

“My shape is good and this is a good sign for the next big races. Last weekend at Milan-Sanremo was probably one of the most disappointing moments of my career, and today everything went 100% better than last week so I can forget about that disappointment now.

"It's been a long time since I was sitting on the bike and tears came out of my eyes. That was such a big disappointment. The next two or three days after that was a bitter pill to swallow.

"You prepare the whole winter for that one race, and you know you have the legs to be there, that you're strong enough, then something like that happens in the end, that is not your decision.

"You cannot compare today to Flanders. Today, the breakaway went away early, but it was perfect training for next week, with a hard race and a difficult finish. I'm still not in top shape. The favourites are Sagan, Cancellara, Boonen. The way Fabian came back at Harelbeke shows just how good he is.

"I'm going to go 100 percent on Sunday. It's the Ronde, it's one of the biggest races in the world. I'd love to make a good result there. I am not a favourite yet. I don't mind the rain, but I hope it is not cold. This is my fourth Flanders. I am still learning. The big key to these races is to get the experience. I am only 25. I hope I can keep improving."

“I’m so proud of the team performance today, the guys did a great job,” said Team Giant-Shimano coach, Aike Visbeek after the stage.

“We were in control all the time and the plan was to have as many guys as possible with John at the end. Dries and John were always there when it was hard and Ramon and Koen were still present too but we decided to keen them back a bit for later.

“When the three riders went away at the end, Dries did an awesome job chasing really hard and then at the end John’s sprint was perfect.

“We have been preparing the classics for a long time and have put a lot of hard work in. This is a really big race and to win here is a great reward for all our efforts.”