Marcel Kittel may have taken his third stage win in just four days of racing at the Tour de France but today the big German was nearly beaten by Alexander Kristoff. Having lost his teammates in the finale, he admitted that today's stage had shown that the powerful Giant-Shimano team is beatable.

 

Marcel Kittel has sprinted to his third stage victory of the 101st Tour de France today, taking a hard fought win on the roads of Lille.

 

Kittel had to position himself in the final kilometre after a scrappy run-in where it was difficult to hold position, and then he had to go for a long one on the final straight to the line. He had to power to come past to take the win but today he was made to work for it and showed that he is not unbeatable.

 

The stage once again got underway with just a small two rider breakaway but there were to be difficulties along the way and no easy ride like the steady third stage the riders had the day before. Early crashes hampered the peloton but Team Giant-Shimano managed to steer clear of these and avoid danger. Then into the second half of the stage the peloton split over one of the small climbs en route.

 

Kittel and the majority of the team were riding together on the right side of the split but the increase in pace was a sign of the tough speeds to come. Once the front of the race was all back together the pace ramped up once again with a strong tailwind pushing the riders towards the finish, and making it difficult to stay together as a unit.

 

Having studied the stage finish before hand online and using videos the riders were well prepared for the finish but you can never account for the hecticness of a bunch racing together towards the line. The pure sprint formation hit the front in the final three kilometres but struggled to control the group.

 

Coming under the red kite with one kilometre to go Koen De Kort, accelerator then lead-out man Tom Veelers dropped Kittel off into the wheels at the head of the peloton from which point he launched a long sprint to overpower the rest and take his third stage win here and his fifth Grand Tour victory of 2014.

 

“Today was a much different finish to the previous days,” said Team Giant-Shimano coach Marc Reef from the team bus after the stage. “The idea was to stay focused on each other, on the preparation for the sprint and on each other.

 

“We had analysed the finish before with video and also online and used that to make a detailed plan of when we wanted to come to the front and what side to take.

 

“We planned on hitting the front with 1300m to go and to take control from there but it was so hectic the guys could not all stay together.

 

“Despite not managing to stay in formation the guys still got Marcel into a good position so that he could go for the finish from where he needed to be. He did another strong sprint and it’s great for everyone to share another win here.”

 

Kittel added: “It was high speeds for the final 30km today, really fast and this made it difficult to stay together.

 

“We still came into the final few kilometres in a good position and the guys dropped me off at the front in the wheels.

 

“All I could think about was the last corner. We had studied the stage before with the coaches and knew that after the bend it was 250m to go. I nearly went then but held back and then went after the corner to get over to Kristoff.

 

“I had to go from a long way out but I managed to get past before the line.

 

"It was not a long stage but it was fast and very nervous. 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 could see the finish line and I really gave everything I had today, but it was very difficult.

 

"We did not underestimate Kristoff, we always knew he was a very dangerous guy as he showed today. Today we saw that we were not unbeatable. We must still focus on our race and our preparation. It was tough today.

 

"Before the race, I said my goal was to win one stage, and I said it was unique to be able to wear the yellow jersey and win four stages last year. So winning three stages and wearing yellow again is pretty special again.

 

"It’s never easy to win at the Tour de France and today was really, really hard. We worked for this one.

 

"That's going to be a very difficult stage. We have it as a goal. John Degenkolb was second in Paris-Roubaix and he's a favourite and has a lot of confidence. We'll go for it. I just hope the weather stays dry."