When a 13-rider group emerged after the Koppenberg in yesterday's Tour of Flanders, Giant-Shimano was one of just two teams with more than two riders in the group. Dries Devenyns and John Degenkolb put in a valiant effort but in the end they came up short and finished outside the top 10.

After a thrilling 98th edition of Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Dries Devenyns and John Degenkolb have both finished in the top 15 after a superb showing out on the roads of Flanders.

Both riders were part of the select group of favourites that pulled away over the top of the Koppenberg and after this the race was always going to be decided from these riders.

The day’s early break was a powerful one and this caused a high pace throughout the day, and also a very nervous race full of crashes.

Despite all the instability and technical roads, the Team Giant-Shimano riders rode well together and avoided any real problems, positioning Degenkolb and Devenyns before each of the key points in the race.

Both were well placed at the bottom of the Koppenberg, and over the top they found themselves in a much reduced front group containing all the race favourites.

These leaders were whittled down to just 13 before the attacks started to fly. Devenyns tested the legs of the others on a few occasions with John sitting easy behind. However when it came to the climbs, Degenkolb looked to be struggling and had to fight his way back over the top each time.

In the final 15km, a powerful lead quartet formed, and from here it was always going to be a tough task to claw them back with Devenyns dropped leaving just Degenkolb in the small chase group behind.

From here it was up to these four to fight out the victory and the finish came down to a sprint between them to see who had anything left in the tank.

Fabian Cancellara showed a cool head to take the win, making it back to back victories. Riders then came across the line in ones and twos, and Devenyns came in just ahead of a small group with Degenkolb taking the sprint for 15th.

“Everything went perfect today, the boys rode well and it was looking good deep into the final,” said Degenkolb after the finish.

“It was good to be up there with Dries and to work with each other. I was in difficulty on the Taaienberg but managed to come back to the group. On the Kwaremont I had it hard as well but held on.

“Then on the Paterberg I felt good again but riders had already gone up the road. Behind the lead four it was a real tactical fight for fifth place and about deciding who to follow.

“Overall it was a good day and we learned a lot again which is good for the coming years in this race. Next week is a totally different race but I aim to be up there again.”

Devenyns was also happy with how the race went for the team, despite not quite getting the result they were after. He said:

“It was a really hard race today and at the end I was really happy to be up there with the best.

“We didn’t make any mistakes tactically and the team rode well. You could say that the strongest group rode away at the end and from them the strongest rider won.”

Team Giant-Shimano coach, Marc Reef said after all the commotion had died down:

“The guys did a great job today, the whole team, and there’s no regrets about the way we rode out there.

“We knew that we had to be well positioned from the Kwaremont onwards and there was a big fight to get into position at the base of that climb. They did this perfectly, even if moving John up was a bit last minute and from here they were set up well.

“Looking back, when you see that none of our guys crashed that speaks for itself in that they were always well positioned and aware of what was going on all race.

“In the final few climbs John and Dries did a good job but it was a bit of a gamble on who gets away and who doesn’t, especially after the lead four went clear. Overall it’s a really good sign for the team and shows how far we have come on over the past year.”