John Degenkolb: “It's in me”
March 31 st 2025 - 10:58
THE UNBREAKABLES (I/V)
Paris-Roubaix is a race for specialists, perhaps the most untamable of the classics and certainly the one with the most severe physical and technical requirements. Its cruelty and harshness frighten some, but also inspire many others, who make it the highlight of their season. Among these regulars, a select few have a 100% finish rate, but what is their secret to consistently completing the course? John Degenkolb, Jasper Stuyven and Oliver Naesen have never resorted to withdrawing in the Queen of the Classics, and the same goes with Margaux Vigié and Chiara Consonni, who have finished the first four editions of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift. They explain for paris-roubaix.fr the details of their preparation, the technique that allows them to ride over the cobblestones, their little tricks and even the mental aspect of this challenge, which they have mastered a little better than the others.
John Degenkolb was made to win Paris-Roubaix. It was the prophecy delivered by his former U23 coach, Patrick Moster, before the German rider turned professional and tamed the cobbles of the Hell of the North, winning the mighty Classic in 2015 and also powering to victory in Roubaix in the Tour de France 2018. This victory felt like a resurrection, after a serious accident in 2016, and it also marked his only success in the Tour, on roads forever associated with the spring and with Degenkolb, so much so that the longest cobbled sector of Paris-Roubaix (from Hornaing to Wandignies-Hamage) now carries his name. At 36 years old, his best legs are behind him yet he keeps on impressing with his mastery of the race. Like anyone, Degenkolb suffers in the Hell of the North. But he can also boast an immaculate record of 12 finishes in as many participations. “I will always have the determination to make it somehow to tlhe velodrome”, he assures, buoyed by the experience he has gained since 2011 on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix.
John Degenkolb (Picnic PostNL)
Born on 7 January 1989 in Gera (Thuringia, Germany)
Teams: HTC-Highroad (2011), Argos-Shimano, Giant-Shimano, Giant-Alpecin (2012-2016), Trek-Segafredo (2017-2019), DSM, DSM-Firmenich, Picnic PostNL (since 2022)
Major wins:
Paris-Roubaix 2015
Milan-Sanremo 2015
Paris-Tours 2013
Gand-Wevelgem 2014
Cyclassics 2013
12 Grands Tour stages (1 in the Tour de France, 10 at La Vuelta, 1 in the Giro)
Results in Paris-Roubaix:
2011: 19th / 2012: 63rd / 2013: 28th / 2014: 2nd / 2015: Winner / 2017: 10th / 2018: 17th / 2019: 28th / 2021: 53rd / 2022: 18th / 2023: 7th / 2024: 11th
Distinctive feature: After hell comes comfort, in a pure Roubaix style. John Degenkolb fully embraces the tradition by taking his post-race shower in the historic grounds of the velodrome. Every year, he meets with a handful of riders… But he stands out with the plaque commemorating his victory in 2015 and marking his territory as conqueror of the Hell of the North.
THE PREP: “THE WHOLE SETUP HAS TO BE PERFECT”
One might know the roads and cobbles leading to Roubaix like the back of a wrinkled hand, each edition is a renewed ordeal that calls for optimal preparation. “I’d say 20, 30% of that race is definitely the stuff you have to get sorted upfront”, Degenkolb evaluates. “And that’s not only two or three days before, it starts months ahead to be ready and make sure everything is definitely in place.”
“The whole setup of the day has to be perfect”, he insists after experiencing most of the traps of Paris-Roubaix, may it be painful crashes or devastating mechanicals. “Your legs have to be good, your head has to be good, you have to be mentally 100% ready, your equipment, your teammates, the support on the side of the road, the support from the team… Only if you can set up as close as possible to 100%, that’s when you can perform. If you have a few problems, you can still push through. But if the problems add up, you can’t deliver anymore.”
To stack the odds in his favour, the German veteran does recons every year, “not necessarily to know the course, but to test the material, especially if there is new equipment”. Hopefully, this will help him avoid the nightmares of 2012, when he got his worst result (63rd) in Roubaix: “It was the first year with electrical shifting. Basically, as soon as I was on the cobbles, I couldn’t change gears.”
THE COBBLES: “THE FIRST TIME, I WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED”
Is there anyone in the peloton who knows the cobblestones of the North better than John Degenkolb? In addition to his stellar record in the race, the German star is an ambassador of Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix, and the sector from Hornaing to Wandignies-Hamage was even renamed in his honour in 2020 to recognise his commitment to save the Junior event. Degenkolb loves the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix… But it was not love at first sight.
“The first time I rode on the cobbles of Roubaix, I was totally shocked, I couldn’t believe this was the forest of Arenberg, where we’d be racing three days later”, he recounts. “I knew everything about Paris-Roubaix because I’m passionate and I was fascinated watching it as a fan but I didn’t think it was so rough. When I tell people who’ve never been there that they are missing on historical roads of cycling, they don’t really understand what I mean. It’s a huge challenge and it’s so different to anything else you can experience on a bike. Even if I found the worst cobblestone sector of Germany, it wouldn’t be even close to what we have in Nord-Pas-de-Calais.”
Yet, in this very first participation, he came 19th despite “a very stupid crash on Carrefour de l’Arbre. I was laying on the ground, Boonen and Hushovd flew past me. But I managed to keep on fighting until the velodrome.” His grit and skills immediately supported the prediction of his U23 coach, Patrick Moster: “Even before I turned professional, I had never been on the cobbles of Roubaix and he told me: ‘One day you’ll win Roubaix.’ I will never forget that.”
THE MENTAL: “THERE’S NOT MUCH I HAVE TO DO TO GET MORE EXCITED”
To survive the Hell of the North, riders need strong legs, the right material, unique skills, a bit of luck… and loads of mental toughness. “In the end, it’s a lot about having the right focus, the concentration and the determination to really go for it”, Degenkolb professes.
The winner of the 2015 edition has no issue switching on for Paris-Roubaix: “For me, it’s basically the pinnacle of the Classics. At the opening week-end, you have the first sensations of the cobbles and climbs. Then, it continues over Sanremo, you go into Ronde van Vlaanderen… And every week, you get closer to Roubaix. So my excitement gets higher and higher, because this race is so special to me, it just comes by itself. For me, it’s the most special race of the year, something really unique. There’s not much I have to do to get more excited. It’s in me.”
While some may fear the challenges of Paris-Roubaix, Degenkolb has nurtured his own relationship with the event over the years: “I’m not scared but I have a massive respect for the race, I would say. Going through the forest of Arenberg, anything can happen, a lot of things are not in your own hands. You have to be trusting and hope for the best.”
THE ABANDON: “I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT TO MAKE IT”
Degenkolb recounts crashing “four or five times” on the roads of Roubaix, where icons such as Tom Boonen and Roger De Vlaeminck bit the dust and threw in the towel: “in my first participation, in the Tour when it was raining [stage 5, 2014], also when we did it in October, in 2021, and when Mathieu [van der Poel] and [Jasper] Philipsen pushed me off the road [2023]”. As brutal as the cobblestones are, “in the end, every crash is painful”, he reminds. “I don’t think it’s a big difference crashing there compared to other races.” And it has never forced him out of the race.
“You don’t know what will happen in the future but I know I will always have the determination to make it somehow to the velodrome”, he assures. “If you cannot continue, you cannot continue. But as long as I can actually get back on the bike, I will always fight to make it there. This race is so special that even though you’re not fighting for victory, just to be in the results is special enough to fight for”, he insists, even contemplating the possibility of reaching a velodrome with closed doors: “I wouldn’t mind finishing out of the time limit when the circumstances are so bad you can’t be good enough or whatever. I think it’s a race where it’s worth to make it to the line, even though you’re out of the time limit.”
Degenkolb's commitment to Paris-Roubaix even saw him push his limits just to be at the start: "In 2021, I had a very very bad crash the week before Roubaix, at the World Championships in Leuven. I had a lot of skin off but my shape was pretty good and I was really focused on Roubaix that year so even if the circumstances and my health were not really good, I was still pushing really hard to be in the race. I could have easily said: ‘I'm not going.' But I wanted to be there so bad also because we knew it was most likely to be a rainy Roubaix and I wanted to experience that… But I don’t want to experience it again, that was even worse than I was expecting!"
THE EXTRA: “IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE A FAIRYTALE”
Degenkolb is not only the active rider with most finishes in Paris-Roubaix, he may very well be the one to whom the race has brought the most intense joys. “I don’t think there’s any other rider at the moment competing with the same passion I have for Paris-Roubaix and the same connection I have with it”, he acknowledges. “I had the huge honour to define my career in Roubaix, around this race and also with the Tour de France.”
Triumphing in the 2015 edition of the Hell of the North probably marked the high point of his career: “The thing that stands out the most to me is that in 2015 I could take the cobblestone home with me. That makes me even more proud obviously than to only finish every year. But it is for sure a nice statistics and something special.”
And his victory in Roubaix in stage 9 of the Tour de France 2018 carried a different, deep meaning, a year and half after being hit by a driver during a training ride. “It almost feels like a fairytale. I was fighting years and years to get this Tour de France stage victory and to eventually achieve it on the parcours of Paris-Roubaix, I think that says everything. It still gives me goosebumps to think about it, to think this experience was possible. It was a dream come true.”