Degenkolb wins 17th stage of Tour of Spain

German sprint specialist John Degenkolb won his fourth stage of this year’s Tour of Spain on Wednesday (Sep 10) when he took the 17th, a 190.7-kilometre ride from Ortigeira to La Coruna.

Giant Shimano’s German cyclist John Degenkolb celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 17th stage of the 69th edition of “La Vuelta” Tour of Spain in La Coruna. (AFP/Jaime Reina)

CORUNNA, Spain: German sprint specialist John Degenkolb won his fourth stage of this year’s Tour of Spain on Wednesday (Sep 10) when he took the 17th, a 190.7-kilometre ride from Ortigeira to La Coruna.

The 25-year-old’s victory – which sees him move to within one of the total he won on the 2012 edition – didn’t affect the overall standings as two-time champion Alberto Contador will again don the red jersey for Thursday’s 18th stage.

Degenkolb, who was second in the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic this year, beat home Australia’s former red jersey wearer Michael Matthews while Swiss star Fabian Cancellara was third.

Thursday’s 18th stage is a 157km ride from d’A Estrada to Monte Castrove en Meis, which is a second category climb reached after a 10km ascent.

Contador highlighted this stage as the one he feared the most in terms of his rivals for the title attacking him.

The 31-year-old presently leads compatriot Alejandro Valverde by 1min 36sec with Britain’s 2013 Tour de France champion Chris Froome a further three seconds in arrears.

The race finishes with a 9.7km time-trial in Santiago de Compostella on Sunday.

Source AFP

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