A week after his Giant Shimano team-mate Marcel Kittel took three stages wins in the Dubai Tour, John Degenkolb posted his first victory of the season on stage one of the Tour of the Mediterranean on Thursday.
The German rider was quickest out of the 97 riders who finished in the front group, beating Danilo Napolitano (Wanty - Groupe Gobert), Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF), Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli) and the other sprinters to the line in Montagnac.
The success earned him the first leader’s jersey of the race, and ended the frustration of a number of near misses in last week’s Etoile de Bessèges.
“It was really nice out there today, sunny and warm which makes a nice change to the recent weather,” he said. “It was a long race and the guys rode great, especially Tom Peterson and Thierry Hupond who were on the front for what felt like the whole day.
“They never really got much help from the other teams but were super strong. The win wouldn’t have been possible without their work.”
They were vital in dealing with a breakaway which attacked early on. Four riders were initially involved, namely Vegard Stake Laengen (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia), Pierre Gouault (BigMat-Auber 93) and Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and these were joined approximately fifteen minutes later by Julien Bérard of the Ag2R La Mondiale team.
They rode hard over two early category three ascents, where Grijalba took the points on offer. However their chances of staying clear were impacted by the route, which saw the riders reach more exposed sections with 85 kilometres to go.
This led to the peloton putting the hammer down, with the strong riders and teams splitting the main field into two groups. The rapid pace continued and the field continued to break into smaller groups, with the front portion mopping up the peloton thirty kilometres from the line.
Giant Shimano had to back off the pace with ten kilometres left due to a mechanical issue for Degenkolb. This enabled some of the riders who were chasing the front group to get back up, but the pace jumped again when Wallonie Bruxelles rider Christophe Prémont jumped clear and remained ahead until the final kilometre.
Once he was caught, the riders launched into the bunch sprint, where Degenkolb fared best.
“I had a mechanical with ten kilometres to go and knew I had to fight to get back on as the guys had fought for me all day,” he said, talking about the motivation his team’s actions gave to him. “It paid off at the end and it’s great to get the win.”
The race continues tomorrow with a 170.6 kilometre stage from Cadolive to Rousset.
Tour of the Mediterranean, France (2.1)
Stage 1, Argelès-sur-Mer to Montagnac:
1, John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano) 196.3 kilometres in 5 hours 34 mins 1 secs
2, Danilo Napolitano (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
3, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF)
4, Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli)
5, Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille)
6, Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar)
7, Mirko Selvaggi (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
8, Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
9, Baptiste Plackaert (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
10, Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
11, Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling)
12, Yauheni Hutarovich (AG2R La Mondiale)
13, Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Giant-Shimano)
14, Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
15, Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team)
16, Yannick Martinez (Team Europcar)
17, Egor Silin (Team Katusha)
18, Pavel Brutt (Team Katusha)
19, Fabio Felline (Trek Factory Racing)
20, Warren Barguil (Team Giant-Shimano)
21, Alo Jakin (BigMat - Auber) 93
22, Sébastien Delfosse (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
23, Enrico Barbin (Bardiani CSF)
24, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team)
25, Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team)
26, Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
27, Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia)
28, Mikael Cherel (AG2R La Mondiale)
29, Domingos André Maciel Gonçalves (La Pomme Marseille)
30, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ.fr)
31, Michel Kreder (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
32, Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr)
33, Dries Devenyns (Team Giant-Shimano)
34, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale)
35, Ruben Fernandez (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
36, Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
37, Yury Trofimov (Team Katusha)
38, Romain Lemarchand (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
39, Carlos Julian Quintero (Colombia)
40, Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling)
41, Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Colombia)
42, Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale)
43, Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
44, Romain Sicard (Team Europcar)
45, Maxime Vantomme (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
46, Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory Racing)
47, Jérôme Pineau (IAM Cycling)
48, Georg Preidler (Team Giant-Shimano)
49, Lawrence Warbasse (BMC Racing Team)
50, Rémy Di Gregorio (La Pomme Marseille)
51, Quentin Jauregui (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
52, Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing)
53, Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
54, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Bardiani CSF)
55, Thomas Degand (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
56, Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling)
57, Jimmy Turgis (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
58, Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
59, Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling)
60, Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli)
61, Vladimir Gusev (Team Katusha)
62, Gustav Larsson (IAM Cycling)
63, Julien Stassen (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
64, Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (AG2R La Mondiale)
65, Matthieu Boulo (Team Raleigh)
66, Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia)
67, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
68, Flavien Dassonville (BigMat - Auber) 93
69, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale)
70, Jérémy Roy (FDJ.fr)
71, Tom Dernies (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
72, Alexandre Geniez (FDJ.fr)
73, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing)
74, Christophe Premont (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
75, Vegard Stake Laengen (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
76, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
77, Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
78, Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
79, Tomasz Kiendys (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
80, Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ.fr)
81, Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ.fr)
82, Angelo Pagani (Bardiani CSF)
83, Kevin Seeldraeyers (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
84, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar)
85, Stéphane Rossetto (BigMat - Auber) 93
86, Jean-Marc Bideau (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
87, Rudy Kowalski (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
88, Julien Antomarchi (La Pomme Marseille)
89, Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
90, Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar) at 32 secs
91, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) at 44 secs
92, Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
93, Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing) at 59 secs
94, Omar Fraile Matarranza (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
95, Théo Vimpere (BigMat - Auber 93) at 1 min 7 secs
96, Thomas Vaubourzeix (La Pomme Marseille)
97, Florian Guillou (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
98, Grzegorz Stepniak (CCC Polsat Polkowice) at 1 min 18 secs
99, Gert Joeaar (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 1 min mins 32 secs
100, Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani CSF) at 1 min 47 secs
101, Frédéric Brun (BigMat - Auber) 93
102, Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale)
103, Boy Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing)
104, Christophe Laporte (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
105, Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Factory Racing)
106, Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
107, Piotr Gawronski (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
108, Francis De Greef (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
109, Yohan Bagot (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
110, Jonathan Dufrasne (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
111, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team)
112, Laurent Evrard (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
113, Jérôme Baugnies (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
114, Johnny Hoogerland (Androni Giocattoli)
115, Dimitri Le Boulch (BigMat - Auber 93) at 2 mins 0 secs
116, Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) at 2 mins 3 secs
117, Florian Vachon (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
118, Grégoire Tarride (La Pomme Marseille)
119, Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani CSF) at 2 mins 41 secs
120, Maxime Anciaux (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
121, Mark Christian (Team Raleigh) at 4 mins 9 secs
122, Evaldas Siskevicius (La Pomme Marseille)
123, Romain Hardy (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
124, Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
125, Franck Vermeulen (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
126, Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling)
127, Johannes Fröhlinger (Team Giant-Shimano)
128, Andrea Zordan (Androni Giocattoli)
129, Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli) at 6 mins 45 secs
130, Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli)
131, Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling)
132, Pierre Gouault (BigMat - Auber) 93
133, Evan Oliphant (Team Raleigh)
134, Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
135, Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia)
136, Karol Domagalski (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
137, Petr Ignatenko (Team Katusha)
138, Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar)
139, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Colombia)
140, Ian Wilkinson (Team Raleigh)
141, Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Colombia)
142, Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli)
143, Yanto Barker (Team Raleigh)
144, Quentin Bertholet (Wallonie - Bruxelles) at 7 mins 45 secs
145, Yoann Paillot (La Pomme Marseille)
146, Alexander Rybakov (Team Katusha)
147, Alexander Porsev (Team Katusha)
148, Steven Tronet (BigMat - Auber) 93
149, Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
150, George Atkins (Team Raleigh)
151, Davide Malacarne (Team Europcar)
152, Donato De Ieso (Bardiani CSF)
153, Christophe Kern (Team Europcar)
154, Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Polsat Polkowice) at 8 mins 20 secs
155, Joseph Perret (Team Raleigh) at 14 mins 33 secs
156, Anton Vorobyev (Team Katusha) at 15 mins 59 secs
157, Morgan Kneisky (Team Raleigh)
158, Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
159, Darwin Ferney Pantoja Tobar (Colombia)
160, Thierry Hupond (Team Giant-Shimano)
161, Thomas Peterson (Team Giant-Shimano)
162, Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale)
163, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 17 mins 41 secs
Did not finish: Diego Rosa (Androni Giocattoli)
General classification after stage 1:
1, John Degenkolb (Team Giant-Shimano) 5 hours 34 mins 1 secs
2, Danilo Napolitano (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
3, Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF)
4, Manuel Belletti (Androni Giocattoli)
5, Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille)
6, Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar)
7, Mirko Selvaggi (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
8, Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
9, Baptiste Plackaert (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
10, Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
11, Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling)
12, Yauheni Hutarovich (AG2R La Mondiale)
13, Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Giant-Shimano)
14, Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
15, Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team)
16, Yannick Martinez (Team Europcar)
17, Egor Silin (Team Katusha)
18, Pavel Brutt (Team Katusha)
19, Fabio Felline (Trek Factory Racing)
20, Warren Barguil (Team Giant-Shimano)
21, Alo Jakin (BigMat - Auber) 93
22, Sébastien Delfosse (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
23, Enrico Barbin (Bardiani CSF)
24, Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team)
25, Stephen Cummings (BMC Racing Team)
26, Ben Hermans (BMC Racing Team)
27, Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Colombia)
28, Mikael Cherel (AG2R La Mondiale)
29, Domingos André Maciel Gonçalves (La Pomme Marseille)
30, Arnaud Courteille (FDJ.fr)
31, Michel Kreder (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
32, Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr)
33, Dries Devenyns (Team Giant-Shimano)
34, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale)
35, Ruben Fernandez (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
36, Davide Rebellin (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
37, Yury Trofimov (Team Katusha)
38, Romain Lemarchand (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
39, Carlos Julian Quintero (Colombia)
40, Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling)
41, Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Colombia)
42, Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale)
43, Peio Bilbao (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
44, Romain Sicard (Team Europcar)
45, Maxime Vantomme (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
46, Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory Racing)
47, Jérôme Pineau (IAM Cycling)
48, Georg Preidler (Team Giant-Shimano)
49, Lawrence Warbasse (BMC Racing Team)
50, Rémy Di Gregorio (La Pomme Marseille)
51, Quentin Jauregui (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
52, Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing)
53, Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
54, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Bardiani CSF)
55, Thomas Degand (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
56, Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling)
57, Jimmy Turgis (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
58, Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
59, Sébastien Reichenbach (IAM Cycling)
60, Franco Pellizotti (Androni Giocattoli)
61, Vladimir Gusev (Team Katusha)
62, Gustav Larsson (IAM Cycling)
63, Julien Stassen (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
64, Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (AG2R La Mondiale)
65, Matthieu Boulo (Team Raleigh)
66, Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia)
67, Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
68, Flavien Dassonville (BigMat - Auber) 93
69, Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale)
70, Jérémy Roy (FDJ.fr)
71, Tom Dernies (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
72, Alexandre Geniez (FDJ.fr)
73, Laurent Didier (Trek Factory Racing)
74, Christophe Premont (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
75, Vegard Stake Laengen (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
76, Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing Team)
77, Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing Team)
78, Marek Rutkiewicz (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
79, Tomasz Kiendys (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
80, Jussi Veikkanen (FDJ.fr)
81, Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ.fr)
82, Angelo Pagani (Bardiani CSF)
83, Kevin Seeldraeyers (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
84, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar)
85, Stéphane Rossetto (BigMat - Auber) 93
86, Jean-Marc Bideau (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
87, Rudy Kowalski (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
88, Julien Antomarchi (La Pomme Marseille)
89, Bartlomiej Matysiak (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
90, Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar) at 32 secs
91, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) at 44 secs
92, Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
93, Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing) at 59 secs
94, Omar Fraile Matarranza (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
95, Théo Vimpere (BigMat - Auber 93) at 1 min 7 secs
96, Thomas Vaubourzeix (La Pomme Marseille)
97, Florian Guillou (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
98, Grzegorz Stepniak (CCC Polsat Polkowice) at 1 min 18 secs
99, Gert Joeaar (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 1 min 32 secs
100, Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani CSF) at 1 min 47 secs
101, Frédéric Brun (BigMat - Auber) 93
102, Julien Berard (AG2R La Mondiale)
103, Boy Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing)
104, Christophe Laporte (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
105, Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Factory Racing)
106, Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
107, Piotr Gawronski (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
108, Francis De Greef (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
109, Yohan Bagot (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
110, Jonathan Dufrasne (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
111, Klaas Lodewyck (BMC Racing Team)
112, Laurent Evrard (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
113, Jérôme Baugnies (Wanty - Groupe Gobert)
114, Johnny Hoogerland (Androni Giocattoli)
115, Dimitri Le Boulch (BigMat - Auber 93) at 2 mins 0 secs
116, Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) at 2 mins 3 secs
117, Florian Vachon (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
118, Grégoire Tarride (La Pomme Marseille)
119, Edoardo Zardini (Bardiani CSF) at 2 mins 41 secs
120, Maxime Anciaux (Wallonie - Bruxelles)
121, Mark Christian (Team Raleigh) at 4 mins 9 secs
122, Evaldas Siskevicius (La Pomme Marseille)
123, Romain Hardy (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
124, Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne - Seche Environnement)
125, Franck Vermeulen (Roubaix Lille Metropole)
126, Marcel Wyss (IAM Cycling)
127, Johannes Fröhlinger (Team Giant-Shimano)
128, Andrea Zordan (Androni Giocattoli)
129, Emanuele Sella (Androni Giocattoli) at 6 mins 45 secs
130, Marco Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli)
131, Stefan Denifl (IAM Cycling)
132, Pierre Gouault (BigMat - Auber) 93
133, Evan Oliphant (Team Raleigh)
134, Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC Polsat Polkowice)
135, Juan Pablo Valencia (Colombia)
136, Karol Domagalski (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
137, Petr Ignatenko (Team Katusha)
138, Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar)
139, Leonardo Fabio Duque (Colombia)
140, Ian Wilkinson (Team Raleigh)
141, Robinson Eduardo Chalapud Gomez (Colombia)
142, Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli)
143, Yanto Barker (Team Raleigh)
144, Quentin Bertholet (Wallonie - Bruxelles) at 7 mins 45 secs
145, Yoann Paillot (La Pomme Marseille)
146, Alexander Rybakov (Team Katusha)
147, Alexander Porsev (Team Katusha)
148, Steven Tronet (BigMat - Auber) 93
149, Fernando Grijalba (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA)
150, George Atkins (Team Raleigh)
151, Davide Malacarne (Team Europcar)
152, Donato De Ieso (Bardiani CSF)
153, Christophe Kern (Team Europcar)
154, Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Polsat Polkowice) at 8 mins 20 secs
155, Joseph Perret (Team Raleigh) at 14 mins 33 secs
156, Anton Vorobyev (Team Katusha) at 15 mins 59 secs
157, Morgan Kneisky (Team Raleigh)
158, Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis, Solutions Credits)
159, Darwin Ferney Pantoja Tobar (Colombia)
160, Thierry Hupond (Team Giant-Shimano)
161, Thomas Peterson (Team Giant-Shimano)
162, Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R La Mondiale)
163, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) at 17 mins 41 secs