Full-gas day of racing at Tour de France, hindered John Degenkolb sprints to 13th

A fast day of racing at the Tour de France saw large breakaway groups, multiple attacks and crosswind chaos; all before a reduced sprint where John Degenkolb took 13th place into Pau with Team dsm-firmenich PostNL.
From the flag drop the racing was intense and it seemed clear that the majority of the peloton didn’t want to ride for a sprint finish. Team dsm-firmenich PostNL were active in covering the attacks, with Frank van den Broek making it into a large group of 22 riders that forged clear. Normally they would have went on to contest the stage win but with the inclusion of Yates, who was only six minutes down on GC, several GC teams in the peloton weren’t happy and set off in pursuit. This resulted in an almost 90 kilometre chase before the catch was eventually made.
After that moment the race turned into an exposed section of road and things split to pieces in the crosswinds, although they would regroup somewhat around 20 kilometres later. Next up was the categorised hills of the day and here the attacks continued with riders looking to deter the sprinters and sprint teams that were left in the front of the race. Warren Barguil was active in the finale to cover the potentially dangerous larger groups, before Romain Bardet brought John Degenkolb into position for the sprint. Using his experience of navigating finales, Degenkolb smartly moved up around the outside of the last corner and was in fifth wheel when the sprint opened up. Unfortunately, as the pace increased he got blocked and had to hit the brakes and as a result a chance of a top result was gone, ultimately taking 13th place on the day.
Speaking after the stage Degenkolb said: “It was raced really quite hard today; it was almost like a one day race. My teammates did a super job bringing me over the hilly parts and we had a really good day together as a team and I am happy that I had the chance to sprint in the finale. I tried to come with some momentum from the back and do a long sprint but the gap was closed on me and I touched the barriers which wasn’t so nice. That’s why I am also disappointed that it wasn’t enough for more at the line, the guys were great today.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston added: “The guys were active in the start and did a good job getting Frank into the break. However, the peloton were pulling super hard so Frank managed his energy smartly in the front. The team did a good job getting John through a tough period in the crosswinds and getting him into the peloton where we tried to set him up to sprint. Unfortunately, he was a little squeezed as he was opening up the sprint and finished outside the top ten in the end.”