Degenkolb renews with Picnic-PostNL

John Degenkolb has extended his contract with Dutch WorldTeam Picnic-PostNL, committing an 11th year to the team where he's enjoyed most of his success, and stretching his career to 17 seasons. The German veteran's relationship with his team began way back in 2012 following a lucrative neo-pro season with HTC-High Road. Between 2012 and the end of 2016, the versatile fast man racked up 36 victories – out of his 48 career total – including 11 Grand Tour stages, and Monuments Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, both in 2015. Degenkolb moved on to pastures new in 2017, spending a few seasons at Trek-Segafredo and then Lotto Soudal, until returning home to then-called Team DSM for 2022. Degenkolb has not himself mounted a podium since 2020, but instead he's played the role of road captain and mentor to the increasingly young and up-and-coming talent pool at Picnic-PostNL. "Earlier in my career, when I was in a different role chasing those wins in the biggest races, I always relied on great road captains,” Degenkolb said in a team statement. “That showed me how important it is when you are young and ambitious to have experienced riders and people around you."