Kittel: Victory on the The Mall rivals Champs Elysees
ByReuters
Updated 07/07/2014 at 18:54 GMT
Marcel Kittel said sprinting to victory in London was comparable to winning last year's final stage on the Champs Elysees after reigning supreme around the block from Buckingham Palace on Monday.
Marcel Kittel celebrates stage three victory (Reuters)
Image credit: Reuters
The 26-year-old speed king beat Slovakia's Peter Sagan, winner of the sprinter's green jersey for the last two years, by two bike lengths for his second stage win in the first three days of the Tour de France.
"Emotionally, this win is close to the one I got on the Champs-Elysees in Paris last year," Giant-Shimano leader Kittel, who won a dramatic bunch sprint on stage one in Harrogate on Saturday, told reporters.
"Winning on The Mall, that's what I dreamed of, but even though I had a good chance to make it come true, it's not something I could take for granted.
"The crowd was fantastic. I love the atmosphere. This was one of the fastest sprints I've ever done."
"So far I've won two stages out of three, but I don't have a precise goal in terms of number of victories. I'll take it day by day. We'll keep working hard with the aim of winning more."
His team turned the screws towards the end of the 155km stage from Cambridge, driving the peloton around the streets of London as light rain made the surfaces greasy.
It was a masterclass in teamwork and proof that a top sprinter is only as good as his support riders.
The team is doing well, winning two stages out of three and doing a great job," Dutchman Koen de Kort, who led through the final two turns before Tom Veelers took it out, told reporters.
"The team is working perfectly.
"Marcel is incredibly strong," he added of the man who will get all the headlines. "He won four stages last year, but it seems he is even better this year.
"When you see him sprinting it's almost incredible, he just attacks and I hope he can keep it up."
While not a contender for the yellow jersey, Kittel and Sagan will be battling for the green jersey over the remaining 18 stages, with the fight likely to go all the way to Paris.
Sagan will arrive in France later on Monday with a 27-point lead after two second places and fourth in Sunday's stage.
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