German went on to have one of the best seasons of his career after spring stage race
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John Degenkolb's 2014 Etoile de Bessèges points jersey on eBay(Image credit: eBay / dulozon2)
Degenkolb’s 2014 Giant-Shimano team went on to become Team Sunweb in 2017, and is still going strong today(Image credit: eBay / dulozon2)
John Degenkolb (left) sewed up the yellow points jersey while Giant-Shimano teammate Tobias Ludvigsson (right) won the final time trial at the 2014 Etoile de Bessèges, and with it the overall race title(Image credit: Sirotti)
Yes – it's a yellow jersey, which traditionally signifies the overall leader at most stage races, as per the Tour de France with its famous maillot jaune, of course. However, there are no rules – witness the Giro d'Italia's pink leader's jersey and the Vuelta a España's red leader's jersey – and all sorts of colours and patterns signify the leaders in overall, points and mountains classifications at races all over the world, although we'll admit that it certainly is quite rare for the hallowed yellow hue to be used for a points jersey.
And a very nice jersey it is, too, as Degenkolb would no doubt attest. It comes complete with the logo of the German's then team printed on the chest, and Giant-Shimano would later become today's Team Sunweb.
Degenkolb remained with the team for a further two seasons as it first became Giant-Alpecin, and he then made the move to Trek-Segafredo for the 2017 season, before joining Lotto Soudal this season.
At the 2014 Etoile de Bessèges, which ran over five stages from Bellegarde to Alès, from February 5-9, that year, Degenkolb first wore the jersey on stage 3, due to stage 1 winner Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen) leading both the overall and points classification. And Degenkolb would finally make it his for keeps following stage 4, having finished second to Bryan Coquard (Europcar) in Laudun and third behind Coquard and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) the day before.
A decent time trial for the final stage around Alès netted Degenkolb sixth place on the stage and jumped him up to the third step of the podium overall, five seconds off the GC victory by his Giant-Shimano teammate and TT specialist Tobias Ludvigsson.
John Degenkolb (left) sewed up the yellow points jersey while Giant-Shimano teammate Tobias Ludvigsson (right) won the final time trial at the 2014 Etoile de Bessèges, and with it the overall race title (Image credit: Sirotti)
Degenkolb went on to have one of the best seasons of his career so far after winning the points classification at the Etoile de Bessèges in February, with the sprinter-puncheurwinning the first three of the four stages of the Tour Méditerranéen later that month, and then a stage and the points classification at Paris-Nice in March.
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He then won Gent-Wevelgem at the end of March, and then showed his fine form again with second place to Dutchman Niki Terpstra at Paris-Roubaix – a race that Degenkolb would win the following season.
Two second-places on stages at that summer's Tour de France followed, and he then bagged a highly impressive four stage victories at the Vuelta a España – as well as the points jersey – before Degenkolb rounded out his successful 2014 season by winning Paris-Bourges in October.
The France-based seller of his Etoile de Bessèges points jersey is looking for €139 (£125 / US$165), and they're happy to post it to wherever you are in the world. For German cycling or Degenkolb fans – or fans of fantastic early season French races – it's a great buy, and the size-medium garment could either be proudly worn or framed and mounted on the wall. Either way, it would make a great conversation piece.
We're constantly on the lookout for unique and rare cycling relics on eBay. If you have any suggestions or leads, please send them to cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com with 'eBay Finds' in the subject line.
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