Undisputedly fatigued following his successful spring campaign, John Degenkolb enjoyed a short break from competition in order to regain his strength, but will be back in action at the GP Frankfurt today in the first act of his Tour de France preparations.

Degenkolb certainly made a huge step forward in the Flemish classics this season and proved to be one of the most promising contenders to excel in this type of races in the future, having won Gent-Wavelgem, finishing runner up to Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) in Paris-Roubaix and surviving demanding climbs to cross the line fifteenth at the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Quickly developing his affection for cobbled one-day events, the 25-year old German admitted that this kind of effort inspires him more than collecting numerous stages won from bunch sprints, and recent results encouraged him to focus more specifically on the classics in years to come.

"It makes me really proud to talk about it and watch the coverage back again. It's a great feeling to see myself not only in the race, but also in the important moves. When the really strong guys attacked I was able to follow," he said.

"In fact, we rode really well as a team. It was a great effort. Bert de Backer rode a very smart race and he was able to help me in the final when there were just the strong guys left. I'm really looking forward to the next Classics season and racing those three Monuments – San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix. They'll be my biggest goals for next year."

However, while most of the cobbled specialists enjoy a longer break from competition at the moment, Degenkolb returns at the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt – spring’s final classic held on his home soil, to kick off his Tour de France preparations.

Following the German one-day event, exceptionally close to Degenkolb’s heart, the Giant-Shimano rider will participate at the Amgen Tour of California followed by a three-week altitude training camp at Sierra Nevada, Tour de Suisse and German national championships as his final event before heading to the French grand tour race.

"After that I'm going to California and then I'l do a long three-week altitude training camp at Sierra Nevada, then return at the Tour of Switzerland, the national championships and then the Tour," said Degenkolb.

"We're heading into our Tour preparations. Everything is focused on July now."

The 25-year old German started his professional career with HTC team, remembered for their almost flawless lead-outs, and praised his current team for slowly reaching a similar level of perfection in that discipline.

"I don't know if we’re better than HTC, but I think we're on the way to achieving similar things to that team," said Degenkolb, who took six wins in HTC colours in 2011, including the GP Frankfurt.

"They were a team with big engines, with lots of strong guys, a great lead-out train and, of course, a fast sprinter. I think we've got all those components. That was a reason why I chose this team because I could see some parallels and I'm very happy being here."