John Degenkolb wining his own mental battle as Dubai Tour heads to Hatta Dam stage

FUJAIRAH // Winner of the Hatta Dam stage in 2015, Trek–Segafredo’s John Degenkolb is looking forward to challenging those hills again on Friday following a morale-boosting triumph, amid a blinding sandstorm, in Thursday’s Stage 3 of the Dubai Tour.

On a day when defending champion Marcel Kittel's bloody face, caused by a punch from Astana Pro Team's Andrey Grivko, attracted most of the attention alongside the treacherous race conditions and vicious winds, Degenkolb's return to the top of the podium provided the heart-warming moment.

Degenkolb, 28, missed last year’s Dubai Tour and most of 2016 following an accident when a car crashed into his training group, nearly severing one his fingertips. The German was riding for Team Giant-Alpecin at the time, but having put those difficult days behind him, Degenkolb was delighted to get his first win for the new team, finishing ahead of Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Team Dimension Data) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain — Merida) in Al Aqah.

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Read more

■ Marcel Kittel: Demands six month ban for Andriy Grivko after punch

■ Stage 2: Kittel leaves it late but wins ahead of Groenewegen

■ Stage 1: Kittel praises teammates after securing Stage 1 win

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“I am super happy about how everything is going, not just about this victory but also before the race,” he said. “The feeling is the most important and the feeling is great in the group.

“So it’s a great feeling to deliver this victory for my new team. It’s just great to get support like this from the team. For me that’s crucial because in the end, it is mental as well. You are winning these races in your head also.

“Of course, you can lose it in your head too. That is why it was great that the team just kept believing in me even after I didn’t feel super great in the sand storm. It was amazing. We had a super good lead out — it was just perfectly timed. I could jump on Kiel Reijnen’s wheel and then luckily in the last few metres, I could also overtake him.”

Talking about Friday’s 172km Westin Stage, which will finish on Hatta Dam, Degenkolb refused to make any predictions.

“I am very satisfied with how everything is going right now and tomorrow is a big day for us,” he said. “I won the Hatta stage two years ago and I think it is a good stage for us, but we have to take it day by day.

“In races like this, you have to take it as it comes. Of course, I will give everything to be as best as possible in the end, but the goal was to find the rhythm here and have a good start into the season. I think we have already got that definitely and everything that comes now is just a bonus.

“The whole team is really happy and that releases the pressure, which was actually not there. I mean, it’s always a nice feeling to start your first race with a victory.”

arizvi@thenational.ae

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