Watch all the best cycling events in the world on SBS On Demand, with the Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes and much more.
Degenkolb expressed his shock and disappointment after crashing out of the 2023 edition of the Paris-Roubaix, following a incident which saw the 34-year-old caught between Alpecin–Deceuninck duo Van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen less than 17 kilometres out from the finish line.
The pair, who went on to finish first and second in the race respectively, appeared to shift across to the same side of the road as the German veteran, who was left with nowhere to go before eventually crashing into some spectators nearby.
The Alpecin–Deceuninck rider finished 2:35 behind after being denied a chance to contest the final.
"I think it's not easy to describe how big the disappointment is," the 2015 winner of the cobbled classic said shortly after the race.
"It's hard to remember - I know that I was on the right side and then suddenly – actually first Philipsen moved to the right and I was already on the right side and in the ditch there.
"And then also Mathieu squeezed himself through and pushed me basically into – yeah, there was no space anymore for me – into the spectators on the side of the road. I crashed. That's all I can say."
Degenkolb recused himself from further comment until first viewing the race footage, while he later attributed the crash to "a racing incident".
The German rider was consoled by race winner Van der Poel as he collapsed in tears at the finish line, before the Dutchman was also asked for comment on the incident shortly after the race.
“I haven’t seen the images yet so I have to see if it was my fault or not, if he hit a spectator or not," Van der Poel said at the post-race press conference.
"If it was my fault, my apologies. It was a race situation. I’m glad that I could avoid it.”
While the race proved to be one not without its controversy for the 28-year-old, amid both the crash and a puncture to rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) which led to his third-placed finish on the day, Van der Poel made it two monuments for his 2023 season from an impressive solo victory as he added to his Milan San Remo triumph from March.
Watch all of the action from Paris-Roubaix 2023 men's race on SBS On Demand.
