Cycling: John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) won the Münsterland Giro 2016. In difficult weather conditions, the 28-year-old was able to defend his position on the circuit and beat Roy Jans (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Pascal Ackermann (Rad-net ROSE) in the sprint. André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Marcel Kittel (Etixx - Quick-Step) were thrown back by a mass fall shortly before the final and were no longer able to intervene decisively.
The complicated conditions dominated the World Cup dress rehearsal for Germany's top sprinters at the Münsterland Giro. It was pouring rain for almost the entire duration of the race, the streets were extremely wet and the cobblestone sections looked like a ball dance and a few drivers fell again and again, even if fortunately there were no bigger or bad falls. For most of the 215,8 km, a sextet at the front set the pace, with Silvio Herklotz from Bora-Argon 18 also driving at it.
When the breakaway attempt ended a little before the 20km mark, the race seemed to take its usual course. Alongside Giant-Alpecin and Bora-Argon 18, the teams from Lotto Soudal and Etixx – Quick-Step showed themselves again and again on the final circuit, which had to be completed three times. No wonder: despite the adverse conditions, the World Championship riders André Greipel, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb had an excellent opportunity to test their early World Championship form – but nothing came of it.
[blog style=”def” cols=”2″ display=”specific” specific=”55279″ posts_per_page=”0″ offset=”0″ pagination=”no” ad_id=”0″ ad_count=”3″ ad_repeat=”yes”]On the penultimate lap, a larger group fell on the slippery cobblestones in the front part of the field. Of the top favourites, only John Degenkolb was lucky enough to have placed ahead of this group; Marcel Kittel and André Greipel, on the other hand, were held up for a long time and the gap was finally too big to be able to close it again before the final. So Degenkolb played out his superiority and drove a tactically very successful sprint, which brought him victory. The self-confidence was of course great afterwards: “In the end it was advertising for our own benefit. I couldn't have wished for more. Now we'll see what's in store for us at the World Cup. It's not going to be an easy race and I'm not the sole captain. But I do have one or two claims.”
Degenkolb will start at the Road World Championships in Doha on October 16, but is only considered the 'third choice' after the two top sprinters Greipel and Kittel.