Team Argos-Shimano's stage winner John Degenkolb has left the Giro d'Italia.

John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) has won Stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia in a crash-marred uphill sprint. The German dusted the field to win the 203-km ride from Cosenza to Matera in 4:37:48. Angel Vicioso (Katusha) finished second, and Paul Martens (Blanco) took third. Luca Paolini, Vicioso's teammate, remains the maglia rosa.

German John Degenkolb takes victory in stage 5 of Giro d'Italia 2013 for Team Argos-Shimano; Katusha's Luca Paolini maintains overall Giro d'Italia lead.

Team Argos-Shimano's Francois Parisien sprints to victory in stage 5 of 2013 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya ahead of Samuel Dumoulin of AG2R and Stéphane Poulhies of Cofidis.

Team Argos-Shimano's Kirsten Wild earlier this afternoon proved to be the fastest rider when she accelerated across the finish line in the women's Dwars door Vlaanderen 2013, outsprinting Team Lotto-Belisol's Jolien D'Hoore and Monique van de Ree of Team Cyclelive-Zannata.

Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) has won Stage 2 of Paris-Nice. The German sprinter dusted the field in a stage-end cavalry charge to win the 200.5-km run from Vimory to Cerilly in 5:42:18.

Germany's Marcel Kittel sprints to victory for Team Argos-Shimano; Team Cannondale Pro Cycling's Elia Viviani takes overall Paris-Nice lead from former race leader Nacer Bouhanni who abandons race after crash.

Team Cannondale's Sagan beat Tony Gallopin of RadioShack-Leopard and Team IAM's Martin Elmiger when he counter-attacked about 1.5 kilometers from the finish line.

24-year-old Kittel of Team Argos-Shimano took the stage victory and the red jersey which is awarded to the race leader. Kittel leads the 2013 Tour of Oman ahead of AG2R's Davide Appollonio and Champion System's Bobbie Traksel.

We analyze possible motives behind the UCI's exclusion of Katusha Team from the 2013 WorldTour, which has left Katusha in a cold and bleak midwinter of discontent. We look at possible effects of the exclusion of Team Katusha and the inclusion of Argos-Shimano and Saxo-Tinkoff.