Marcel Kittel powers to fourth stage win at the Tour de France

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Marcel Kittel

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.”


Tour de France 2017 – stage 10 results (Périgueux – Bergerac):

1Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors)

4:01:00

2John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo)

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3Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo)

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4Rüdiger Selig (Bora-hansgrohe)

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5Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin)

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6Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis)

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7Daniel Mclay (Fortuneo – Oscaro)

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8Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)

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9Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida)

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10Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data)

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11Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie)

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12André Greipel (Lotto Soudal)

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13 Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb)

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14Davide Cimolai (FDJ)

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15Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar)

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16Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)

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17Danilo Wyss (BMC)

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18Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data)

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19Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates)

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20 Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)

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General classification after stage 10:

1Christopher Froome (Team Sky)

38:26:28

2Fabio Aru (Astana)

+18”

3Romain Bardet (AG2R)

+51”

4Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac)

+55”

5Jakob Fuglsang (Astana)

+01’37”

6Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors)

+01’44”

7Simon Yates (Orica-Scott)

+02’02”

8Nairo Quintana (Movistar)

+02’13”

9Mikel Landa (Team Sky)

+03’06”

10George Bennett (LottoNl-Jumbo)

+03’53”

11Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates)

+05’00”

12Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo)

+05’15”

13Pierre Latour (AG2R)

+05’30”

14Mikel Nieve (Team Sky)

+06’18”

15Sergio Henao (Team Sky)

+06’55”

16Damiano Caruso (BMC)

+06’58”

17Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R)

+07’56”

18Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe)

+08’46”

19Carlos Betancur (Movistar)

+10’34”

20Brice Feillu (Fortuneo – Oscaro)

+11’43”

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