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Kittel sprints to victory on fourth stage of Tour

July 5, 2016

Marcel Kittel burst back into the limelight when he prevailed in a mass sprint to the line to win stage four at the Tour de France. Peter Sagan retained the yellow jersey before the race hits the mountains on Wednesday.

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Tour de France 2016 4. Etappe Sieger Marcel Kittel
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Ena

Etixx-Quick Step rider Kittel had a disappointing start to the 103rdedition of cycling’s most prestigious race after his 2015 season was wrecked by illness.

Kittel was beaten to the line by Mark Cavendish in the opening stage on Saturday to looked to be struggling for form when he could only manage a mediocre seventh on Monday.

He triumphed in Tuesday’s 237.5-kilometer stage from Saumur to Limoges, the longest in this year’s race, when he crossed millimeters ahead of Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie).

Slovak Sagan (Tinkoff) came in third, while Cavendish, chasing a 29thTour stage win, got boxed in and could only finish eighth, surrendering the lead to Sagan in the points classification.

Tough start

“There is a lot of emotion, I had to fight to come back,” Kittel said. “I had a tough start to the season but the goal has always been the Tour de France. The plan was to take the yellow jersey after the first stage but that did not go as expected.”

Wednesday’s 216-km fifth stage takes the peloton from Limoges to Le Lioran and a battle between the best downhill racers is expected in the final stretch.

idr/RTRS