At 26, John Degenkolb seems to have matured into the rider that we all hoped he would: an all-round classics contender with a more than passable bunch sprint, not a world away from a certain Tom Boonen.

The German was hugely frustrated last year as he punctured just as the bunch hit the Poggio, then rebounded to grab Gent-Wevelgem a week later, but his win yesterday was a display of power and patience.

All the pre-race talk was of Sagan and Kristoff, but Degenkolb has firmly demonstrated that he’s worthy of comparison with either of those. He was largely quiet in the final kilometres yesterday, sitting smartly in the bunch and letting others do the work and he didn’t panic, sending all his remaining Giant Alpecin teammates to the front. Riding in the same team as the flamboyant Marcel Kittel, it’s easy to forget at times that Degenkolb is just as talented as his team mate (and the same age, too), it’s just that his talent manifests itself in a slightly different way.

Like Thomas, Degenkolb has been promising this sort of win, coming second at Roubaix last year and winning in Wevelgem. He’s an extremely versatile rider, and capable of being a contender in a whole host of different races. He will certainly be one to watch come the cobbled Classics.