Berlin (AP) – The German professional cyclist John Degenkolb spoke out against a general ban on Russian and Belarusian cyclists after the Russian attack on Ukraine.
“You have to differentiate between individual drivers and sponsors like Gazprom. Professionals like Pavel Sivakov may be a Russian citizen, but he has clearly distanced himself from this regime. That’s exactly the right way. It wouldn’t be right to block him,” said Degenkolb in an interview with the “Frankfurter Rundschau”.
The world cycling association UCI had excluded Russian and Belarusian teams from all races and tours, including the Gazprom-Rusvelo team. Individual Russian and Belarusian professionals in non-Russian or -Belarusian teams are not affected. Siwakow drives for the British team Ineos-Grenadiers.
In addition to Siwakow, his compatriot Alexander Wlassow is also part of the German team Bora-hansgrohe in the World Tour. On Thursday, he clearly distanced himself from the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Like many other Russians, I just want peace. I’m not a political person and ordinary people like me weren’t asked if we wanted war. It was a shock to everyone and I hope it stops soon,” Vlasov wrote Instagram.
During training, Degenkolb manages to block out thoughts of the war. “But especially as an older driver and father of a family, you question what are we actually doing here now? There is war in the middle of Europe and we are supposed to cycle here now?” Said the winner of Paris-Roubaix and Milan-Sanremo 2015: “I hope I urge that the peace negotiations lead to a positive result as soon as possible and that this war is finally over.”