John Degenkolb got the T-shirt at Paris-Roubaix: the 2015 winner is one of the veterans of the cobbled classic peloton and is still the center of attention in Compiègne, even though he is heading into the twilight of his career.

But until his run on Sunday afternoon, it had been a long time since the German had been at the top of the northern hellhole; until his seventh-place finish in his 11th entry, his best result was a top 10 in 2017.

His best result in eight years could have been even better. Degenkolb, who was leading the race, crashed at Carrefour de l'Arbre 16.5 km before the finish.

Degenkolb, 34, was running in a roadside ditch when the Alpecin-Desseuninck pair of Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Pol crossed Degenkolb's ditch and lost his way.

Caught between the one-two finishers on the Roubaix velodrome and the spectators along the roadside, Degenkolb was not given a chance to advance to the final, finishing 2:35 behind.

"Well, it's hard to remember," Degenkolb said after the finish, struggling to find the words to describe his race.

"I was on the right side and all of a sudden - actually, first Philipsen moved to the right and I was already on the right side, and that's where I got stuck in the ditch.

"Then Mathieu also pushed himself in and basically pushed me - yes, there was no more space for me - into the spectators on the side of the road. I crashed. That's all I can say."

Also disappointed that he was robbed of the Roubaix cobbles and a chance to compete for the podium, Degenkolb admitted that he was not the strongest in the group.

But as the saying goes, "Roubaix is Roubaix," he reminded the press present at the finish.

"I mean, I certainly wasn't the strongest in that group. But Roubaix is Roubaix, and when you are in that group so close to the final, anything can happen," Degenkolb said, declining to comment further on the incident without seeing the television footage.

"I don't want to say anything right now because I haven't seen the footage yet. It's hard to remember," he said, but in a later comment to Het Nieuwsblad he called it a "racing incident."

Earlier in the day, Degenkolb was leading the race in the four-star sector 17, Hornan a Vandiny. This sector was named after the German by race organizer ASO in response to his fundraising efforts to save Paris-Roubaix Junior in 2019.

However, it was this sector and his inclusion in the lead group that was the highlight of his race. He then hit his left shoulder in Carrefour de l'Arbre and quickly got up and tried to re-enter the race, waiting for a new bike from the team car.

He put in a last ditch effort to finish, and was able to finish in the top 10. He said afterward that he still felt the pain of the crash, but noted that the pain of disappointment was more excruciating.

"I felt pain in my left shoulder," he said. But I don't think it's easy to describe the magnitude of my disappointment." I hadn't been up to a final like this in a long time.

"I think I could have had a really good race, a really good result, and it's a real shame to have missed that chance."

After an interview with the press gathered in the velodrome infield, a teary-eyed Degenkolb was welcomed by his wife and children.