John Degenkolb took a hard-fought fifth place on the third stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour after a crash late in the day derailed plans for a sprint with Fabio Jakobsen. Degenkolb was positioned himself well heading into the finale and dug deep in a long finishing sprint to take the team’s first top 10 of the race.
The stage featured a breakaway of seven riders for much of the day before it was reeled in ahead of the Golden Kilometre sprint. The fast pace and constant fighting for position on the narrow Belgian roads caused issues for several riders including Jakobsen who came down with just under 20 kilometres to go together with teammate Robbe Dhondt and several others. Both were able to get back on and keep riding but were out of contention for the sprint.
After the stage, Degenkolb said: “Today was a typical Belgian stage race day with a lot of concrete roads, a few climbs and it was very hectic. In general as a team we had quite a bit of bad luck today with several flat tyres and then the crash for Fabio. As a result I was alone in the final and had to find my own way. I am quite happy about how that went, fighting for position and giving it a shot in the sprint. Getting a top five in a race like this is not so bad for an old man and it shows also that the shape is good for now. I’m looking forward to what’s coming this week and also for the races to come too.”
