Crash drama already at the 2026 Tour de France! John Degenkolb “hits the deck” before Stage 1 even gets underway
Cycling
John Degenkolb’s 11th Tour de France has begun with a crash before the race itself has even started, with the experienced German rider revealing he hit the ground during a training ride in Barcelona ahead of Stage 1.
The 37-year-old Team Picnic PostNL rider is still expected to start the opening stage, but will do so with abrasions and a bruised shoulder after a painful pre-race fall on the eve of the Grand Départ.
Degenkolb suffers training crash in Barcelona
“Definitely not the best circumstances to start my 11th Tour de France in Barcelona,” Degenkolb wrote on Instagram. “Unfortunately I hit the deck in yesterday’s training ride.”
The crash has not ruled him out of the race, although it leaves him carrying early damage before the Tour has even reached the start ramp. “Luckily I got away with no major injuries but obviously abrasions and a bruised shoulder is not ideal,” he continued. “But I’m not here to complain, today the biggest bike race of the world starts and I’m really excited to be a part of it with my Team Picnic PostNL.”
Degenkolb has had more than his share of crash setbacks across a long career. The most significant came in 2016, when several Giant-Alpecin riders were hit by a car during a training ride in Spain, an incident that badly disrupted the years after his Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix victories.
Veteran starts his 11th Tour de France
This year’s Tour marks Degenkolb’s 11th appearance at the race. His defining Tour moment remains his emotional victory on Stage 9 to Roubaix in 2018, when he conquered the cobbles on a day that linked directly back to both his Classics pedigree and the injuries he had fought through earlier in his career.
He returns to the Tour in 2026 in a different role. Degenkolb is no longer Team Picnic PostNL’s protected sprint leader, but his experience remains important in a squad featuring Warren Barguil, Frits Biesterbos, Pavel Bittner, Robbe Dhondt, Niklas Märkl, Julius van den Berg and Frank van den Broek.
For Picnic PostNL, his value is likely to come in the sprint group and on the nervous transition stages, where positioning and calm can matter as much as speed. The relief is that Degenkolb is still able to start, even if his 11th Tour de France now begins with road rash, a bruised shoulder and a far from ideal preparation.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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