German sprinter could to be heading to Lotto Soudal in 2020
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John Degenkolb on the Gent-Wevelgem podium after finishing second(Image credit: Getty Images)
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) talks with a reporter after Tour of Flanders(Image credit: Getty Images)
Thumbs up from John Degenkolb at Gent-Wevelgem(Image credit: Getty Images)
John Degenkolb on the Gent-Wevelgem podium after finishing second(Image credit: Getty Images)
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) shows the effort during stage 7 of the 2019 Tour of California(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
German sprinter John Degenkolb has said he will not start the Tour de France this year as Trek-Segafredo focus their efforts on the general classification with Richie Porte.
Trek-Segafredo have to still finalise and name their eight-rider roster for the Tour de France but Degenkolb appears resigned to a different goals for summer, with a move to Lotto Soudal for 2020 a possibility.
"As it stands now, I will not be riding the Tour de France this year," Radsport-News.com reported Degenkolb as saying.
Degenkolb saved Trek-Segafredo's Tour de France effort last year in the absence of an overall contender, taking an emotional win over some of the same cobbles where he won Paris-Roubaix in 2015 before his training crash the following winter.
Leaving Degenkolb - who has also won MIlan-San Remo and 10 stages at the Vuelta a Espana, at home during July shows the seriousness with which Trek-Segafredo are approaching this year's Grand Boucle and Porte's GC ambitions.
"We've gone through various options in the team, and yes - so far, I'm not going to do the Tour this year and we're focusing all in on Richie Porte and the GC, " Degenkolb said.
"[It is] a decision that I fully accept, because I have already said earlier: what is good for the team and the respective goals, is good for all of us."
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"The final decision has not yet quite been made but after six consecutive participations but its up to me to get over it. There are other races besides the Tour, some very nice races and good goals for me. "
In another report concerning Degenkolb, Wielerflits.nl suggested that the German sprinter could be heading to Lotto Soudal in 2020, where new team manager John Lelangue has indicated he wants to strengthen the team's roster for the Spring Classics. Germany is a key market for sponsor Soudal and after Marcel Kittel's decision to take time out, Degenkolb is arguably the most successful and best known German rider in the sport.
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