John Degenkolb was one of the 14 riders to have an opportunity for victory at today’s Ronde Van Vlaanderen. The German eventually raced to 7th, his personal best at the hilly cobbled classic in Flanders.

Due to beautiful weather conditions the final was initiated late in the race on the second Kwaremont passage with 40 km to go. A group of 25 riders, including John Degenkolb, Zico Waeytens and Koen de Kort were moving towards the decisive phase of the race.

On the Paterberg the hammer went down and Degenkolb unfortunately could not follow with the best, ending in the chase group behind two small breakaways before taking the sprint for seventh.

While reflecting on today’s race, Degenkolb said: “I was really good today. The team kept me in front the entire race allowing me to enter the final without wasted energy.

“The decisive attack for the win came earlier than I expected where a little bit of luck is involved too. When the gap was widening, I switched my focus towards a best possible result at that moment. With some fast riders aboard it is obvious that our group was not chasing hard enough.

“I am very proud and happy on today’s team performance, which gives me a lot of confidence towards next week’s Paris-Roubaix.”

Waeytens added: “I had really good legs today and I am very satisfied that I was able to support John in the final. For me it was a great day riding through my training terrain and even crossing the place I live. I’ve heard people calling my name so often, that support feels fantastic.”

Team Giant-Alpecin coach Marc Reef also gave us his thoughts saying: “I am very satisfied with the team’s performance, which allowed John to reach the final economically. We did a good job to remain focused and sharp all day and executed our tasks properly. In that aspect we really learned from last week’s Gent-Wevelgem.

“On the Paterberg, John was unable to follow Sagan and Van Avermaet. Moving towards Oudenaarde the chance of closing the gap was very small with him included in the chasing group.”