Cycling: John Degenkolb is moving to the US-Italian racing team Trek-Segafredo for the coming season. The 27-year-old signed a 3-year contract and is committed to his new sporting home until 2019. There he should fill the gap left by the newly crowned Olympic gold medalist Fabian Cancellara after the end of his career. Dege is also bringing a long-time companion to Trek with Koen de Kort.
It's finally official. Long before his departure from Giant-Alpecin was known, John Degenkolb was being linked with a move to Trek-Segafredo. The official confirmation was surprisingly long in coming, but in the evening Trek announced the transfer of the German Milan-San Remo and Paris - Roubaix winner.
“John is a champion and we are honored to have him join our ranks. I have no doubt that there is a perfect fit between this hard-working, talented young man and our team structure." says team boss Luca Guercilena. Degenkolb is also looking forward to the new challenge: "I'm really happy about this transfer. It's a big step for me to have such an opportunity in a team like Trek-Segafredo, where a long tradition of classics prevails. It really is a dream come true for me. My previous team Giant-Alpecin also gave me great support during the classics, but Trek-Segafredo feels like the next step. The team is one of the really big names in Flanders or at Prais-Roubaix – that was also one of the main reasons why I made the decision.”
Along with Degenkolb, his long-time companion and loyal helper Koen de Kort is also moving to Trek-Segafredo. However, the 33-year-old only signed a two-year contract for the time being.