Better late than never: With a delay of two days, professional cyclist John Degenkolb still received his place in Sunday's Dutch spring classic Amstel Gold Race.
"I wasn't listed in the results at first. But today I was informed by the organisers that I finished 47th after all," the 33-year-old Degenkolb told the German Press Agency. "They didn't include me in the lists at first because I was travelling with a spare bike. Now I've officially finished the Amstel," the DSM pro clarified with a laugh.
He has only raced there once before and finished 135th in his first professional year in 2011. "The Amstel is a super tough race where it's utopian for me to be at the front. That's exactly why I haven't raced there for eleven years," said Degenkolb.
On Easter Sunday, Degenkolb is expecting a lot more in his "favourite race" Paris-Roubaix, which he won in 2015. "I'm fully focussed on Roubaix and hope that I can go really deep there and not be dogged by bad luck. The 119th edition of the French cycling monument covers 257.2 kilometres, almost 55 of which are over the dreaded cobblestone sections ("paves").
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