Germany’s Marcel Kittel won stage 11 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, his fifth stage victory in this year’s event.
Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen finished second and Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen third in the 203.5km stage.
‘Sometimes when you’re on your top level in the sprints, it’s like playing Tetris,’ said Kittel after the 14th stage win of his career. ‘The last games I’ve always got the right gaps, I never made a mistake, all the lines were perfect. I could today again jump from wheel to wheel. It’s incredible. I’m so happy.
‘It’s really nice to give the team again a victory because Julien [Vermote] worked today, Philippe Gilbert worked today, Jack Bauer worked today. They are all champions, they’re killing it for me. I’m just speechless.
‘It’s hard to work [on timing]. It all comes together. I’ve got the legs and I’ve got the mind for it. It’s perfect. I’m happy I’ve used the chances I’ve had so far, and it can’t get worse from here.’
Meanwhile, Britain’s Chris Froome retained the leader’s yellow jersey. The defending champion leads by 18 seconds overall from Italy’s Fabio Aru and is 51 seconds ahead of Frenchman Romain Bardet in third.
Warren Barguil and Simon Yates held on to their mountains and young rider classification jerseys respectively.
Stage 11 result:
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Quick-Step Floors) 4hrs 34mins 27secs
2. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo) Same time
3. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Dimension Data)
4. Michael Matthews (Aus/Team Sunweb)
5. Daniel McLay (GB/Fortuneo-Oscaro)
6. Davide Cimolai (Ita/FDJ)
7. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto Soudal
8. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Cofidis)
9. Ben Swift (GB/Team UAE Emirates)
10. Danilo Wyss (Swi/BMC Racing)
General classification after stage 11:
1. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) 42hrs 27mins 29secs
2. Fabio Aru (Ita/Astana Pro Team) +18secs
3. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R La Mondiale) +51secs
4. Rigoberto Uran (Col/Cannondale-Drapac) +55secs
5. Jakob Fuglsang (Den/Astana Pro Team) +1min 37secs
6. Daniel Martin (Ire/Quick-Step Floors) +1min 44secs
7. Simon Yates (GB/Orica-Scott) +2min 02secs
8. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar Team) +2min 13secs
9. Mikel Landa (Spa/Team Sky) +3min 06secs
10. George Bennett (NZ/LottoNL-Jumbo) +3min 53secs
Photo: @letour_uk/Twitter
