John Degenkolb wins his second stage in Tour de l'Avenir

by Bjorn Haake at 10:36 AM EST

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Categories: Pro Cycling, Race Reports and Results

German shows promise in race of the future

John Degenkolb won the fifth stage of the Tour de l'Avenir, running from Vals-les-Bains to Loriol-sur-Drôme. Degenkolb beat Spaniard Jesus Herrada and Portuguese rider Nelson Oliveira in the sprint of five. There were no changes in the top five of the overall, where Belgian Yannick Eijssen still leads with 17 seconds over both Romain Bardet (France) and Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia).

It is Degenkolb's second stage win, after already outsprinting Michael Matthews and Michal Kwiatkowski in stage one. Degenkolb increased his lead in the points classification to 42 points over Matthews. In the overall classification, Degenkolb jumped to sixth, now 1'05 behind Eijssen.

His first win came in a bunch sprint, today he was part of the five-man break that formed at kilometer 34. Also a silver medalist at the junior World Championships time trial in 2007, he is a quite an allrounder. This allowed him to win such races as the Thüringen Rundfahrt (stage race) this year.

Today's stage started with some climbs, going first up to the Côte de Peyrageol (km 5) and the côte du Lac Ferrand (km 31). In the descent Degenkolb, Herrada, Oliveira, Benjamin King, Yoann Barbas and Jan Tratnik went away. They quickly built a lead of over a minute. The gap stabilized at 1'20.

Less stable was a tree that tipped over at kilometer 84. The organizers had to neutralize the course for a moment. The gap was recorded and the race restarted in Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut (km 91).

The break fared better with the unusual situation and increased the gap slightly, up to 1'45. Less than 20km from the line, Argueles Rodrigues joined the break, after a long chase. The peloton was now only 35 seconds behind. Degenkolb pushed the pace hard, so at the top of the côte des Roberts, the final climb of the day, the gap was a minute again.

In the descent, it was still Degenkolb who set the fast pace, with Barbas and Rodrigues getting dropped. Degenkolb accelerated through the last turn and decisively took the sprint of five.

Degenkolb will be riding for HTC Columbia next year - a good signing by the American team.

Tomorrow's penultimate stage could well be the decider, with six ranked climbs and the mountaintop finish in Risoul. The 204-kilometer long stage starts in Saillans and ends with a 12.8km climb at an average gradient of seven percent. The final day will be a 13km time trial between Guillestre and Risoul.

Results stage 5: Vals-les-Bains - Loriol-sur-Drôme (153 km)

1. John Degenkolb (Germany)
2. Jesus Herrada (Spain)
3. Nelson Oliveira (Portugal)
4. Benjamin King (Australia)
5. Jan Tratnik (Slovenia)

Overall ranking after stage 5

1. Yannick Eijssen (Belgium)
2. Romain Bardet (France) 0'17s
3. Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia) s.t.
4. David Rosch (Germany) 0'45
5. Tom Jelte Slagter (Netherlands) 0'54
6. John Degenkolb (Germany) 1'05