While Marcel Kittel suffered a frustrating week at Tirreno-Adriatico, Giant-Shimano’s ‘other’ German fast man was in impressive form at Paris-Nice, winning a stage, wearing the yellow jersey and going on to top the points classification.

After impressing on the three flatter stages with two second-place finishes before winning at Magny-Cours on stage three, Degenkolb then proved his one-day ability as he tackled the lumpy routes that featured in the second half of the week. While sprint rivals Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) and Moreno Hofland (Belkin) faded, Degenkolb showed he is capable of handling the pace when the road heads uphill.

Particularly impressive was his spirited defence of the yellow jersey on stage four where, despite the leading GC contenders splitting the race with a series of attacks and counter-attacks off the front, Degenkolb stayed in contention to cross the line just 18 seconds down on stage winner Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp).

Just a few seconds closer and Degenkolb would have retained his yellow jersey ahead of Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas – but maillot jaune or not, the statement was made. John Degenkolb is most certainly a contender for Milan-San Remo.