Marcel Kittel won his fourth stage of this year’s Tour de France, sprinting to victory in the tenth stage. John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) was second with Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) third as reigning champion Chris Froome retained his race lead.
“When I was going in the last kilometre, I thought the sprint was already over, but then a miracle happened and Marcel overtook me!”, Degenkolb said ironically.
“I did a full sprint to stay on his slipstream and that took me to second place. Today he was unbeatable, that’s for sure.”
Kittel was imperious, winning easily as he accelerated from six bodies back to streak several bike lengths clear.
“It’s true, it’s amazing, I can’t even tell you how proud I am,” said the Quick-Step Floors sprinter. “It’s a fourth stage win in 10 days, that’s a great achievement for me and the team.”
It was the manner of Kittel’s victory that was most impressive as he even had time to raise his arms in celebration before crossing the line.
It means he is well set to make this his best Tour yet as he has already matched his previous top effort – four stage wins in both 2013 and 2014 – less than half the way through this year’s race.
“I think I can say I’m the strongest Marcel at the moment, I’ve never felt better,” he said. “I’m in a very good condition, that’s something for me that’s also a big achievement. That gives me also confidence.”
Kittel has won four of the five flat sprint finishes at the Tour this year, and in the only one he didn’t claim, he was held up by a crash in the final kilometre
A tilt at the record of eight stage wins from a single Tour has now become a viable possibility, but he isn’t thinking about such issues.
“For me it’s not about being legendary, a VIP or a person of history. I’m just concentrating on what I like doing best, which is sprinting.”
4⃣/1⃣0⃣ pour @marcelkittel ? / 4 stages to 10 for @marcelkittel !#TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/wl50cDyZDS
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 11, 2017
Tour de France 2017 – stage 10 results (Périgueux – Bergerac):
| 1 | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | 4:01:00 |
| 2 | John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 3 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 4 | Rüdiger Selig (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 5 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 6 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 7 | Daniel Mclay (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | ,, |
| 8 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 9 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 10 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 11 | Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 12 | André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 13 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 14 | Davide Cimolai (FDJ) | ,, |
| 15 | Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar) | ,, |
| 16 | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 17 | Danilo Wyss (BMC) | ,, |
| 18 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 19 | Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 20 | Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
General classification after stage 10:
| 1 | Christopher Froome (Team Sky) | 38:26:28 |
| 2 | Fabio Aru (Astana) | +18” |
| 3 | Romain Bardet (AG2R) | +51” |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) | +55” |
| 5 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | +01’37” |
| 6 | Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’44” |
| 7 | Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) | +02’02” |
| 8 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +02’13” |
| 9 | Mikel Landa (Team Sky) | +03’06” |
| 10 | George Bennett (LottoNl-Jumbo) | +03’53” |
| 11 | Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) | +05’00” |
| 12 | Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) | +05’15” |
| 13 | Pierre Latour (AG2R) | +05’30” |
| 14 | Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) | +06’18” |
| 15 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +06’55” |
| 16 | Damiano Caruso (BMC) | +06’58” |
| 17 | Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R) | +07’56” |
| 18 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +08’46” |
| 19 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +10’34” |
| 20 | Brice Feillu (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | +11’43” |
