With a strong sprint effort in the streets of Waldsassen, John Degenkolb took third at stage 1 in the Bayern Rundfahrt today. 

In early stages, 6 riders pulled clear to spend their day in the front. Team Giant-Alpecin joined the chase that brought back together the race with 20km left.

The desired bunch sprint was prepared. For Team Giant-Alpecin the lead-out did not worked out as planned as Degenkolb sprinted to a third and Ramon Sinkeldam to a fourth. Sam Bennet (Bora – Argon 18) was the fastest today; he will be the first to wear the leader’s jersey in the German stage race.

Degenkolb reflected on today’s race: “We worked hard today. The breakaway made it difficult for us in the finale and we had to work to get them back, which resulted in missing the lead-out.

“I was not ideally positioned and chose the wrong wheel. Unfortunately, but it was the first race after a short break and there will be new chances in the days to come.”

Coach Christian Guiberteau added: “The plan was to go for the win in a bunch sprint with John. Upfront we knew that the race would be hard to control.

“We succeeded in controlling the breakaway as some attacks took place in the finale were we needed to sacrifice some of our guys already.

“The sprint took place and John took third, it is a bit disappointing but there are more opportunities ahead of us this Bayern Rundfahrt.”