Degenkolb confirms he will miss the Classics

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John Degenkolb confirmed today that he will not race in the Spring Classics due to the interruption to his training caused by being hit by a car while out training with the Giant-Alpecin team in Calpe, Spain on January 23.

The Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner suffered a deep cut to his thigh and a nearly severed left index finger when a British citizen driving on the wrong side of the road hit the team head-on last month.

Degenkolb said the wound on his leg was mostly healed, and posted a photo of himself on the stationary trainer. "The healing process is going very well and as expected," he wrote on his personal Facebook page. "And yesterday I was also able to get on the trainer for the first time to get the circulation going."

Degenkolb says his hand injury is the most serious, but he is getting excellent care from his doctors. "I am lacking nothing for rehab and physiotherapy. I am really happy with the care."

While he noted he could probably start the races, he knows he would not be competitive after missing so much training.

"Anyone who knows my ambition, knows that I only want to be there if I can get a top result again. So, I prefer to use the time to completely heal all injuries."

The team was returning from a training session when the car hit the team head-on. All but one rider was affected, with Degenkolb, Chad Haga, Ramon Sinkeldam, Warren Barguil, Max Walschied and Fredrik Ludvigsson the most seriously injured.