The best laid schemes of team Argos-Shimano all came to naught as Marcel Kittel was involved in a crash on stage 5 of the Tour de France.

"It's such a shame that I came down. Before the race we knew that it would be a difficult stage today with the hills so we decided to go for John but if I was still be in the bunch we would sprint for me,” Kittel explained. “However, the moment we wanted to change plan I came off and as it was approaching the finish it was impossible to get back up there. Apart from missing skin on my left I am ok. Tomorrow will be another chance, the team is looking good and everybody is focused and motivated. So I am really looking forward to that!"

Once Kittel had been ruled out of contention, the team’s tactics changed and Degenkolb was now the man to ride for.

"Everybody did a great job today controlling the bunch and keeping me in a good position,” Degenkolb said. In the final few kilometres it was very hectic and as we had lost Marcel in the crash we were a man down. In the final kilometre the team positioned me well but as it was so chaotic in the last 900m and it cost me a lot of energy to hold my position. In the final corner I was pushed away and was too far back to get a good result which is a shame. I did feel good though and the legs are getting better and better."

Sports Director Rudi Kemna also gave his version of today’s events: "Everything went well today, it was a controlled race on the hills which meant they were ok for Marcel. At the beginning we decided to go for John but if Marcel was still in the group after the hills we would change plan. But when we wanted to change the plan to ride for Marcel he crashed so we reverted to the old plan. John did a good job, but these sprints are just a little bit too fast for him, so not ideal. In the end he was pushed out in the corner and came through it too far, but this result isn't too bad."

Marcel Kittel finished 187th on the day, while John Degenkolb came 12th.