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The 107th Tour de France has ended for German professional cyclist John Degenkolb (Gera) after the first stage. The 31-year-old from Team Lotto-Soudal fell on the 156km stage to and from Nice on Saturday and reached the finish line outside the time limit.
Degenkolb had to undergo an X-ray examination after the race and came out of the mobile medical laboratory with large plasters on his knees. “It doesn’t look good,” he said afterward.
A little later he was sure. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Today I lost everything,” Degenkolb wrote on social media: “It’s terribly frustrating. But that’s the brutal reality of cycling.”
Degenkolb was primarily planned as a speed assistant for Australian Caleb Ewan. Roger Kluge (Eisenhüttenstadt) continues to work for the Belgian team Lotto-Soudal in France. After Degenkolbs Aus there are still eleven German drivers in the race.
Sprinter Andre Greipel (Rostock) and all-rounder Nils Politt (Cologne) can continue to compete for the Israel Start-up Nation team despite their crashes. Greipel was sewn with four stitches on the leg. Politt brushed the wounds off his back. Both professional cyclists were saved from breaks.
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