Having already won Gent-Wevelgem and performed excellently in the Tour of Flanders, John Degenkolb ended his spring campaign by taking second in his dream race, Paris-Roubaix. The German was excited by the result and pointed out that at 25 years of age he has plenty of room for improvement.

John Degenkolb has sprinted to second place behind the solo winner Niki Terpstra (OPQS) at today’s Paris – Roubaix.

Degenkolb made the front split of five riders in the latter stages of the race before being joined by Bert De Backer from the chase group behind. De Backer immediately hit the front but when Terpstra jumped in the final kilometres he struggled to close the gap.

Coming into the velodrome in Roubaix Terpstra had nearly 20 seconds gap and it was a race for second. With De Backer leading out, Degenkolb sprinted to second place in what is his final spring classic before focusing on goals a bit further into the season.

The race went perfectly once again for Team Giant-Shimano, staying out of trouble behind the day’s breakaway and then working together to position themselves at the front at the key sectors of cobbles.

Despite a few set backs on the punishing cobbles, Degenkolb and De Backer were positioned at the front for when the race split.

Degenkolb was in the front group of five and De Backer in the chase behind, keeping out of the wind and in reserve for Degenkolb if and when it came back together.

The two groups joined up in the final 10km from which Terpstra put in the winning attack. Behind, the chase couldn’t bring him back and it was a sprint of second on the wooden boards of the Roubaix velodrome where Degenkolb sprinted to a superb second place.

Amongst the crowds and euphoria, Degenkolb took a moment to say:

“I’m so proud of this result, and of the way my team rode and supported me today. This is my first podium in a monument and it is such a great feeling.

“I had a few problems but with the help of my team I managed to fight back on and then at the end had the strength to go with the front group. Bert was really important to have there in the finale and he put me in the perfect position for the sprint.

"Today was a situation where QuickStep had a big advantage to have three guys in the front group. I really don't regret anything I did in the race and right now I'm just satisfied and happy with my second place.

"To be honest, when I saw the stone given to Terpstra, of course that was a little disappointing but I can be very, very satisfied with my result and I'm just happy.

"I love this monument, I love Milano-San Remo and I love Flanders. It has been a big dream of myself to win one of these big Classics and I was close today.

"I'm also very thankful to my team, and I think we did a really good, really smart race by sending Bert De Backer in the breakaway and until the velodrome he was leading the group trying to bring Terpstra back. I could do a good sprint because of him.

"A win is always nice but you have to see the difference between Paris-Roubaix and Gent-Wevelgem. This is one of the toughest races - maybe the toughest - but yeah it's a really awesome result and I'm smiling inside right now and enjoying the moment.

“On the run in I decided to focus on the sprint rather than trying to go with Terpstra. I am still young and have time to develop more.

“It is such a great moment – second in Paris – Roubaix and I am just 25 years old. I cannot wait for what the future holds. I also hope that I can also motivate the younger generation of cyclists in Germany.”

Team Giant-Shimano coach, Marc Reef said after the finish:

“Today was amazing. The whole team were great and to get second at Paris – Roubaix is testament to all the hard work that everyone in this team has put in over the past few years to get us to where we are today.

“We knew that we had a strong line-up here and the plan was to focus on John. We also had a bit of bad luck out there but the guys kept calm and helped John to get back to the front when he needed to. Staying calm was key and also riding as a team as so much happens in this race. Ramon Sinkeldam had to change bikes because of a crash and came back but then crashed again, and at the same time Koen de Kort punctured so we lost them.

“Over one of the latter sectors John got himself in the front split of five which was ideal for us but when the groups joined up it was more dangerous for us. But with Bert there to help John we were still in a good position. At the end they worked well to set up the sprint and John finished it off perfectly.

“I’m unbelievably proud of how the guys rode today.”

Bert De Backer, who eventually came across the line in 11th place, said after the finish:

“Now everything has calmed down a bit I am really happy with the result today, but at first I was disappointed in myself not to have been able to close the gap when Terpstra went.

“Seeing John so happy after the finish was a great feeling for me and the rest of the team. Throughout the day I felt great on the cobbles, and the bike felt so smooth. One of the strong points for the team in our preparation is that we had a lot of input into the tyre pressures and set up for today. The mechanics have worked day and night for the past three days to get everything ready for today and we have to thank them too.

“It’s a great way to end the cobbled classics after a really succesful past few weeks and we can go into the next races now with confidence in each other and how we work as a team.”