"Perhaps this is a stage where I can end up at the top" - John Degenkolb eyes gravel stage at Tour de France

John Degenkolb is celebrating a special anniversary this week. The dsm-firmenich PostNL veteran is taking part in the Tour de France for the tenth time - and is hoping for a victory. After all, there are stages that could - at least on paper - suit him.

The 35-year-old German rode his first Tour all the way back in 2013. Then he nearly took a stage, losing in a sprint only to Peter Sagan in Albi. "I am happy, fortunate and proud that I am tackling the tenth Grand Tour," German Eurosport echoes Degenkolb's words: "I am ready for the Tour."

The ninth stage in particular, with start and finish in medieval Troyes, is entirely to his taste. The white, unpaved gravel roads of Champagne require a special type of rider, one for classics such as Strade Bianche or Paris-Tours, one like Degenkolb. There will be 14 such sections, six of them in the last part with a total length of 32 km.

"Who knows? In the past, such special stages were always exactly my thing," said Degenkolb, who celebrated his only Tour stage win to date in Roubaix in 2018.

"Perhaps this is a stage where I can end up at the top with my experience and skills." On a good day with good legs, he will make the claim "to ride on his own sometimes," said Degenkolb. His role is actually different these days. Degenkolb, formerly a stage hunter and contender for victory in the sprints, takes on a lot of responsibility as road captain, taking care of some of his less experienced teammates.