John Degenkolb: "It feels like winning a monument"

August 14 ^th 2016 - 19:30

“It's really incredible to be a winner again. It's a big victory. In my mind, it counts like a victory in a monument of cycling. It's been a hard week and a hard day today. Everything went fine today. It feels awesome. We were a strong peloton here. I was expecting less action in the bunch. It was hard in the climbs and we struggled to bring the breakaway back. The whole week has gone well, except for the mechanical problems that cost me the victory in the first two days. After the accident we had in January with three other riders who were here to support me this week, this is not just a victory in a HC race, it's very special. I'm relieved. If you experience such an accident, you know how soon everything can be over. It wasn't clear if I could ride my again but I fought to come back. I started from zero again. It's been a lot of big efforts to reach the first place again.”