After a 2025 marked by a serious crash that compromised his entire season, John Degenkolb has bounced back and this year aims to leave his mark once again on the classic he loves: Paris-Roubaix. We caught up with him on the eve of Tirreno-Adriatico and, together with him, we retraced his successes and setbacks on the pavé of the North.

Hi John, how has the new season started and how have your first races gone?
«The season started well in Portugal, I had excellent sensations. I then went to Belgium for the Opening Weekend, but there for various reasons it didn't go as I expected. Last week I did some recovery and now I'm competing at Tirreno-Adriatico.»

In this interview I want to focus on "your" classic: Paris-Roubaix. How did your passion for this race begin and was there a champion who inspired you?
«A champion who inspired me as a kid, and who is certainly one of the reasons why I became passionate about cobbled classics from the start, is Olaf Ludwig. He also comes from Gera, my hometown, and in the 1990s he raced for Team Telekom. He was a sprinter who also went well on the pavé. He finished on the podium at Paris-Roubaix twice: second in 1992 and third in 1993».

Tell us about your first experience at Roubaix in 2011: what do you remember about that day?
«The 2011 Paris-Roubaix was a first for me, since I had never raced it either as a junior or as a U23. I had already raced the Tour of Flanders U23, but never Roubaix. I remember that in 2011, after racing the Flanders, a few days later we went to scout the most important sections of Roubaix and I remember the rush of adrenaline I felt for the first time in the Arenberg Forest. I had never experienced anything like it: I was literally electrified. In the race I attacked after the Arenberg Forest and was in the leading group. I crashed in the Carrefour de l'Arbre section, but still finished in 19th place».

So that day you realized that Paris-Roubaix would become your race?
«Yes, that day I realized that Paris-Roubaix was perfect for me. I remember that at the end of the race, on the team bus, my sporting director said to my teammates: "Look at this kid carefully, because one day he will win Paris-Roubaix". And indeed four years later I managed to do it».

Before the 2015 victory there was also the second place in 2014. That day Niki Terpstra won and you finished second, winning the sprint of the first chasers. You knew you were second, but you celebrated as if you had won. What did that celebration mean?
«In that moment it came naturally to me to celebrate and release all the emotions I had inside. I had never celebrated a second place like that day, but for me to stand on the podium for the first time at the race I loved was enormous joy and I expressed it that way».

And then came the 2015 victory. What do you remember about that day?
«In 2014 I was in the leading group and Terpstra took advantage of a control phase among the favorites to go solo and take the victory. In 2015 a similar situation was developing and, in a control phase about ten kilometers from the finish, Van Avermaet and Lampaert gained an advantage. At that moment I thought: now I have to react. Helped first by my teammate De Backer and then on my own, I closed a gap of about twelve seconds. Three or four other riders then came back from behind, but at the sprint I had the better of them. Winning the race I love was an indescribable emotion».

Beyond the race victory at Roubaix, a great recognition came when in 2020 a sector of Paris-Roubaix was dedicated to you. Tell us about the reasons for that recognition and how it all came about.
«I remember it was early in the season and I was in France at the Tour of Provence. I read on Twitter that the Paris-Roubaix Juniors was at risk of disappearing due to lack of funds: they were talking about around 10,000 euros. I immediately thought of doing something and launched, through an online platform, a fundraising campaign to support the organization of the race. Within 24 hours we had raised about 15,000 euros. I then contacted the organizer of the Paris-Roubaix Juniors, John Malaise, and he together with the association "Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix" were so enthusiastic about my support that they asked me to become an ambassador for the organization. I'm regularly in contact with them: for me it's a pleasure to be able to support them and for them it's a great joy to see the esteem I have for the work they do in maintaining and restoring the pavé sectors. As recognition for my support, in 2020 they dedicated a pavé sector to me (Orchies – Wandignies-Hamage) and for me it's naturally a great source of pride».

After the 2015 victory, in recent seasons your best result has been the seventh place in 2023. But that day, if there hadn't been that crash, what could you have aimed for?
«That day I was really going well, then that crash took me out of contention for the victory. But in the end it's pointless to think about what could have been without that crash: you always have to look forward. My goal is to prove this year too that I can still have a say in this race».

In 2025 unfortunately you weren't at the start of Roubaix because of the crash at the Tour of Flanders, whose consequences kept you out for almost the entire season. How did you recover and what helped you not lose confidence during those months away from racing?
«I've had two serious injuries in my career: in 2016, when I was hit by a car at Calpe while training with my teammates, and last season at the Tour of Flanders. In 2016 I missed the spring classics but returned by early May, while last season I was out for almost five months, so I consider it the most serious accident of my career. I didn't want to end my career that way and I did everything I could to get back on my feet and return to competing with the best in the world. My wife and my children were fundamental in this journey: without them I wouldn't have made it».

Now let's look ahead to this year's Paris-Roubaix. Van der Poel and Pogacar seem to be in a different league: are you racing for third place or can a top Degenkolb compete with them?
«If there's a race where I can compete with them it's Paris-Roubaix. But I also have to be realistic: I don't know how to beat Mathieu. I need the form of my life and the perfect day to have a chance. It's difficult, but I have to believe in it, otherwise I'd start already defeated».