Tour de France: Degenkolb wins much-feared stage in Roubaix
Carnage on the cobbles as Porte crashes out, Uran loses time
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) won stage 9 of the Tour de France in Roubaix, outsprinting yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Yves Lampaert (Quick Step Floors) after a tough day over the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
The win marks the end of Degenkolb’s long road back to the big stage after he and five other Giant-Alpecin riders were hospitalised after a training camp accident in Spain in January 2016. The riders were hit by an driver on the wrong side of the road, with Degenkolb almost losing a finger as a result.
A crash-heavy day ended with Degenkolb, Van Avermaet and Lampaert escaping on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector, 17km from the line. In the peloton, there was no answer to the trio of specialists going up the road, though Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) did try a move later on.
While the Slovak would end up taking fifth behind Philippe Gilbert (Quick Step Floors), up front it was a cagey affair, with no real attempts to launch a race-winning attack before the line. With an advantage of a minute heading into the final five kilometres, they could afford to play tactics, too. Come the sprint though, neither man could overhaul Degenkolb, who led the group for the final kilometre before leading them over the line.
Degenkolb, enjoying his first WorldTour win since the final stage of the 2015 Vuelta a España, was clearly emotional and struggling for words in the post-race interview.
“Pure happiness,” he responded when asked about his feelings. “Really, I was chasing this victory for so long and it’s really hard to describe.
“It was a really hard fight the whole day. It’s a victory of the team — we really had a plan to stay out of trouble all the time and it worked out really well. It was unbelievable.”
The 29-year-old German then went on to talk about his comeback, dedicating the victory to a close friend who passed away during the winter.
“This is a very big victory, and I’ve been through a lot of things in the past,” he said. “It was such a hard time and I’m so happy to dedicate this victory to one of my best friends — he passed away last winter and this was really something for him.
“Everybody said I’m done and that after this accident I will never come back and I said ‘no I’m not done — I have to make at least one really big victory for this guy. His name is Jörg — he was my second father and it was a horrible accident. It was a huge loss and I’m so happy to get this victory now for him.”
“There’s no way to make it more dramatic, more nice, more fantastic. I’m totally overwhelmed.”
The majority of the GC contenders came in (relatively) intact, 27 seconds after Degenkolb. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) endured a horrendous day of punctures of bike changes before finishing 7 seconds down alongside Mikel Landa (Movistar), who crashed late on. Rigoberto Urán (Education First-Drapac) came off worse, losing 1:28 after a crash, while Richie Porte (BMC) abandoned the Tour early on after crashing.
Greg Van Avermaet’s efforts may not have come with a stage victory, but going into the rest day he extends his GC lead to 43 seconds over Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas. The other jerseys remain in the same hands too, with Peter Sagan extending his points classification lead.
How it happened
Last included in 2015, the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix made a reappearance at the Tour de France for stage nine, which ran 156.5km between Arras and Roubaix. A total of 21.7km of cobbles featured, — eight kilometres more than 2015 — including some of the toughest sectors from Paris-Roubaix such as Auchy à Bersée and Mons-en-Pévèle.
It was all go from the beginning of the day, with the break forming and a GC contender crashing out of the race. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Lilian Calmejane, Jérôme Cousin, Damien Gaudin (all Direct Energie), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Omar Fraile (Astana), Chad Haga (Team Sunweb), Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) were the men out front.
Meanwhile, Porte left the race on stage 9 for the second year in a row. The Australian crashed before the race reached the cobbles, and abandoned clutching his right collarbone.
Crashes and mechanical problems were, unsurprisingly, a major theme of the day. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) suffered a puncture and changed bikes twice, later suffering another mechanical in the midst of the cobbled sectors. Michael Valgren (Astana), Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Niki Terpstra (Quick Step Floors) were among those to hit the deck before the riders reached the major cobbled sectors.
A large crash in the middle of the peloton 67km out at sector 12, Warlaing à Brillon, saw the peloton split, with Sky driving the pace afterwards. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Dan Martin (UAE Team Emirates) were among those caught on the wrong side of the split, while Movistar enjoyed having much of their team in the lead group.
There was a regrouping before sector 9 at Auchy à Bersée with 50km to go though. The longest — perhaps the hardest — sector of the day saw Bardet get in mechanical trouble once again, falling a minute behind, while Van Avermaet put in a testing attack towards the end of the sector.
The next sector — number 8 — was the famous Mons-en-Pévèle, or at least 900 metres of it. Team Sky crashed en masse heading into it, with Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas falling and dropping from the peloton briefly.
Still around 30 seconds behind the peloton, Bardet plugged away with lieutenant and Paris-Roubaix runner-up Silvan Dillier by his side. Meanwhile, the unexpected leaders of main group were Movistar, with six riders, including their trio of GC men, at the front of the race.
But the breakaway, or at least the remains of it, were still up front. With 37km to go, Janse van Rensburg and Gaudin left the rest behind to strike for glory. With just a 40-second gap though, their chances of staying away until Roubaix didn’t look great.
The crashes kept coming too, with Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) going down on Pont-Thibault à Ennevelin with 35km to go, and Mikel Landa (Movistar) falling while drinking 32km out. On the exit of sector 5 at Templeuve, Gilbert and Edward Theuns (Team Sunweb) and became the latest men to fall.
Unseen for much of the day, Urán turned up on the television cameras with 30km to go, having clearly crashed at some point and lagging over a minute behind the peloton with teammate Sep Vanmarcke for company.
At 19km from the finish, the break was over, and soon afterwards Van Avermaet added three seconds to his GC lead at the bonus sprint, with Dan Martin taking a two-second bonus. The penultimate sector of the day at Camphin-en-Pévèle saw Lampaert attack, taking Degenkolb and Van Avermaet with him.
Back down the road, Urán and a cadre of teammates toiled almost two minutes down, while Landa, again with a handful of teammates, was chasing at 1:20 from the head of the race. The lead trio enjoyed a 40-second lead heading into the final 10km, with just the Willems à Hem sector to go.
It would be decided in Roubaix for the leaders though, as they passed that sector without any attacks. Now a minute back, the peloton was quiet too, save for Bardet stopping with his third puncture of the race.
Sagan left the peloton behind 3km from the finish, with Gilbert, Jasper Stuvyen (Trek-Segafredo) and Bob Jungels (Quick Step Floors) going too. Though with the leaders so far ahead, it was an attack more with the green jersey points in mind.
After a cat-and-mouse final kilometre, Degenkolb led out the sprint from the front, with Lampaert lying in third wheel. It would end in that order too, with his two rivals offering nothing to counter Degenkolb and his emotional return to the big time.
More to come!
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | 3:24:26 |
2 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
3 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
4 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 0:00:19 |
5 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
6 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | |
7 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors | |
8 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:27 |
9 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | |
10 | Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
11 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | |
12 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
13 | Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors | |
14 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie | |
15 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
16 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky | |
17 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie | |
18 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | |
19 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb | |
20 | Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
21 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
22 | Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky | |
23 | Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
24 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team | |
25 | Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
26 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
27 | Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott | |
28 | Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team | |
29 | Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | |
30 | Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
31 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
32 | Daniel Martin (Irl) UAE Team Emirates | |
33 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb | |
34 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
35 | Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:34 |
36 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
37 | Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | |
38 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data | 0:00:36 |
39 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:38 |
40 | Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
41 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data | |
42 | Robert Gesink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
43 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott | |
44 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:00:42 |
45 | Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb | |
46 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
47 | Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
48 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:00:47 |
49 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:00:48 |
50 | Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:55 |
51 | Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:01:02 |
52 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data | 0:01:12 |
53 | Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
54 | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:23 |
55 | Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team | |
56 | Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb | 0:01:30 |
57 | Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates | 0:01:50 |
58 | Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | 0:01:55 |
59 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
60 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
61 | Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie | |
62 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
63 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb | |
64 | Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
65 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
66 | Amael Moinard (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
67 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
68 | Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott | |
69 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ | |
70 | Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
71 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | |
72 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:02:12 |
73 | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:02:26 |
74 | Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | 0:03:23 |
75 | Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 0:04:15 |
76 | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
77 | Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
78 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:05:11 |
79 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain-Merida | |
80 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | 0:05:42 |
81 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05:47 |
82 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
83 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
84 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
85 | Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
86 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
87 | Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | |
88 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | |
89 | Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
90 | Rory Sutherland (Aus) UAE Team Emirates | 0:05:52 |
91 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:05:57 |
92 | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data | 0:06:01 |
93 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
94 | Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
95 | Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team | 0:06:03 |
96 | Michael Valgren (Den) Astana Pro Team | 0:06:17 |
97 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida | 0:07:57 |
98 | Pawel Poljanski (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:09:31 |
99 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:10:18 |
100 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ | 0:10:26 |
101 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
102 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team | |
103 | Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | 0:11:03 |
104 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:12:24 |
105 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky | |
106 | Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
107 | Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors | |
108 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors | |
109 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | |
110 | Laurens ten Dam (Ned) Team Sunweb | 0:16:04 |
111 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors | |
112 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
113 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
114 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
115 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie | |
116 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott | |
117 | Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
118 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
119 | Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb | |
120 | Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
121 | Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky | |
122 | Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal | |
123 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:16:09 |
124 | Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | |
125 | Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida | |
126 | Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team | |
127 | Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
128 | Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida | |
129 | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ | |
130 | Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
131 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
132 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
133 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
134 | Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky | |
135 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
136 | Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky | |
137 | Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | |
138 | Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
139 | Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data | |
140 | Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | |
141 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky | |
142 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
143 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
144 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie | |
145 | Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
146 | Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data | |
147 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
148 | Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team | |
149 | Ian Boswell (USA) Katusha-Alpecin | |
150 | Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
151 | Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates | |
152 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
153 | Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
154 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
155 | Rein Taaramäe (Est) Direct Energie | |
156 | Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
157 | Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
158 | Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
159 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
160 | Paul Martens (Ger) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
161 | Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
162 | Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
163 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky | 0:16:23 |
164 | Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:16:28 |
165 | Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:19:51 |
166 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
167 | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team | |
DNS | Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 20 | pts |
2 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Direct Energie | 17 | |
3 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 15 | |
4 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie | 13 | |
5 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data | 11 | |
6 | Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 10 | |
7 | Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb | 9 | |
8 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 8 | |
9 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Direct Energie | 7 | |
10 | Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | 6 | |
11 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 5 | |
12 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | 4 | |
13 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 3 | |
14 | Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe | 2 | |
15 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 1 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo | 30 | pts |
2 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 25 | |
3 | Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 22 | |
4 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors | 19 | |
5 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 17 | |
6 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | 15 | |
7 | Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors | 13 | |
8 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 11 | |
9 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data | 9 | |
10 | Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | 7 | |
11 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates | 6 | |
12 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | 5 | |
13 | Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors | 4 | |
14 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie | 3 | |
15 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | 3:24:53 |
2 | Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors | |
3 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb | |
4 | Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 0:00:45 |
5 | Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:01:28 |
6 | Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
7 | Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05:20 |
8 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
9 | Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo | |
10 | Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin | 0:05:34 |
11 | Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team | 0:05:36 |
12 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:11:57 |
13 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | |
14 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:15:37 |
15 | Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | |
16 | Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
17 | Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky | 0:15:42 |
18 | Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
19 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie | |
20 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic | |
21 | Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale | |
22 | Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert | |
23 | Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
24 | Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
25 | Timo Roosen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
26 | Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) LottoNL-Jumbo | |
27 | Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky | 0:15:56 |
28 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:19:24 |