Germany’s Marcel Kittel won stage 10 of the Tour de France on Tuesday, while Britain’s Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey.

The Quick-Step Floors rider beat countryman John Degenkolb by more than a bike length, with Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen third.

‘It’s an incredible amount of Tour de France stages, and to win four in one Tour is amazing,’ Kitttel said afterwards.

‘I’ve won so many stages in the Tour [13] and I never expected that when I started my career. I dreamed of being a professional but to be at this level is incredible. I feel like I live in a small little bubble.

‘I saw that [Daniel] McLay started to sprint very early to come to the front, and that was my lead-out. I feel really good in the sprint at the moment and the power was there.’

Froome finished safe in the bunch to keep the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

‘It was quite relaxed as far as Tour de France flat stages go,’ he said. ‘It is another day out of the way.’

Stage 10 result:

1. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Quick-Step Floors) 4hrs 1min
2. John Degenkolb (Ger/Trek-Segafredo) Same Time
3. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned/LottoNL-Jumbo)
4. Ruediger Selig (Ger/BORA-hansgrohe)
5. Alexander Kristoff (Nor/Katusha-Alpecin)
6. Nacer Bouhanni (Fra/Cofidis)
7. Daniel McLay (GB/ Fortuneo-Oscaro)
8. Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel/Wanty-Groupe Gobert)
9. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita/Bahrain-Merida)
10. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Dimension Data)

General classification after stage 10:

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: Chris Graythen/Getty Images