John Degenkolb continued his domination in the Vuelta a Espana when he finished off excellent teamwork by winning his fourth stage and solidifying his lead in the points competition. With mountain stages coming up, however, he admits that he has very little influence on his own chances in the battle for the green jersey.

John Degenkolb has taken another prolific stage win at the Vuelta a España on stage 17, his fourth stage win of the race. John had to dig deep on the rolling parcours that reduced the peloton to a small front group, but Warren Barguil was there to help bring things back together in the final kilometres to set up the day’s sprint.

Degenkolb , fighting for position on his own, found the right gap and came through to take yet another win in this race, adding to his points tally for the green jersey competition in the process.

Team Giant-Shimano had ear-marked this stage as another sprint opportunity and soon after the day’s break was established they started to control the gap and make sure it didn’t go out much over three minutes.

The fight for the break today was once again a hard one with lots of teams wanting to get away on a stage that could swing either way with it’s constantly rolling parcours. Five riders eventually pulled clear though, with some decent fire-power out front.

The team controlled the race behind with little help from the other teams, but they managed to peg the gap and with 40km to go it sat at 3’03″. A few other teams joined the chase at the front of the bunch on in the closing kilometres as the catch got closer but the rolling roads were taking their toll on the guys as one by one they dropped off, leaving Degenkolb with just Barguil to help support in the final six kilometres. Barguil did not shy away from the task though, getting to the front and putting in some big turns to help bring the gap down and keep things lined out with Degenkolb in position behind.

Into the final kilometre the race was back together and Degenkolb was sat near the front but he had to push hard to find his way out of the group and into some clean air to launch his sprint. Once he was up to speed though there was no stopping him and he was able to raise his arms for the fourth time this race, equalling the team’s stage win tally at the Tour de France, and making it 11 Grand Tour stage win for the season.

Degenkolb said after the finish: “It looked easy but it really wasn’t today. We had to work really hard for it, harder than the other days. We did everything for a sprint today and it turned out to be the right decision.

“It’s the fourth victory from strong teamwork, and everybody can see that the spirit is very good in our team.

“It was a hard final, but we looked at the last 10km yesterday and today everything worked out as we had planned it on the rest day. There are not so many opportunities anymore for sprints but for sure I will help to defend the top ten place of Warren. Friday may be an opportunity for me if I can survive the climbs and I will do my best to defend the green jersey.

"I feel very good. I enjoyed it today. We’ve worked hard for this victory. We’ve controlled all day and brought it to a bunch sprint at the end. It was worth it. We knew the finale. We rode it yesterday as our hotel was very close. But it was really not easy. It was also kind of a poker game. There were still riders ahead of me 500 metres before the line. I could sprint from 200 metres to go. I followed my instinct.

"My leg injury is getting better. I’m still not at 100% of my power. There’s a big goal coming up. It’s still a long way away but it’s come close, slowly but surely. I’m aiming for reaching my top shape at the road race world championship in Ponferrada where I’ll also take part in the team time trial. After the Worlds, Paris-Bourges and Paris-Tours are on my race program. I’m just happy with my condition right now.

"I have to be very realistic about the green jersey. It’s not in my hands. Today I made another big step towards winning the points competition but it all depends on breakaways to make it till the end or not in the next three days and how many points the GC riders can catch. To win the green jersey, I’ll need a bit of luck. But I don’t stress about that. I’ll catch some more points if there are some possibilities but that’s all I can do after winning today."

Barguil added: ”It was great today, the whole team rode and made it happen for John, it was magnificent. It’s great that we can still fight for the stage wins here like this after such a long and hard race.

“For the days to come I’ll continue to give it everything and to keep fighting for my placing on GC.”

Team coach Christian Guiberteau also expressed his content after the stage, saying: “Incredible. What a day. Everyone rode their hearts out today for that win, I’m so proud of the team.

“Everyone played their part in another big team victory today. We didn’t get much help in controlling but we had decided that we were going to ride for a sprint and stuck to the plan.

“The guys in front were strong with some good time trialists and they rode well, making it hard behind.

“Warren did some big turns as well at the end to help bring it back and then John did another superb sprint. Everyone is tired in the peloton now but the win keeps everyone so motivated, it is great for the team.”