Last Updated on April 29, 2023
Marcel Kittel has won three of four stages in this year’s Tour. And with stages six and seven being flat ones, he has the potential for five victories by the end of week one.
Kittel admitted the race is hard on him.
“It was really exhausting,” Kittel said. “In the last 30km it was always 60kph or more and when it’s so fast it’s hard to stay with your team. The boys delivered me to the end and I sat on Mark Renshaw’s wheel. Then I was thinking only about the last corner.
“They told me I would be able to see the line at 250m to go, I was tempted to go at 500m because I couldn’t see where I was, but I waited. It was a really long sprint, really difficult.
“We struggled to stay in the front. I tried to take Kristoff’s wheel but it was hard. All the time I was only thinking about the line. I really gave everything I had but it was very difficult. We did not underestimate Kristoff, we always knew he was a very dangerous guy – as he showed. You saw that we aren’t unbeatable but it was very close.”
The top of the field is narrowing; with Mark Cavendish crashing in stage one, which was a stage won by Marcel Kittel.
Thomas Voeckler, a French cyclist, knows his limits: “I’m a diesel, I’m 35, I need to warm up. I had no illusions about my chances to go all the way but I really enjoyed myself.”
It remains to be seen if Kittel can keep up the brutal pace and win it all.
Photo Credit: Two Wheels Good, Four Wheels Bad
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