2015 Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) has taken the win in the Saitama criterium in Japan today.
The German was part of the winning move which escaped with 9 kilometres left to race. Also in the break were local riders Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Factory Racing), Romain Bardet (Ag2R), Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and Chris Froome (Team Sky)
Arashiro went clear on his own, and was still leading on the final lap. However, he was brought back and Degenkolb won the sprint easily ahead of Beppu and Froome.
“It’s really nice to end this superb season in this way”, Degenkolb explained afterwards. “And with the atmosphere that the fans create here, you’d think you were on the Champs-Elysées.”
