Marcel Kittel was in pain after fighting to the finish of stage 3 of the Dubai Tour to Hatta Dam. After crossing the finish line in sixth place, keeping alive his chances of overall victory, he slumped to the ground, exhausted, and then jumped up and leant over a barrier, taking big gulps of air.
The German sprinter had managed to haul his 82kg of sprinting muscle up the 17% final climb, just four seconds down on stage winner Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and two seconds behind Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo).
After recovering from his effort, Kittel looked for his new Etixx-Quickstep teammates in the chaos past the finish line. Some riders were still finishing, while others were trying to ride back down the climb to their team vehicles. Kittel celebrated his successful day with Matteo Trentin, who finished 10th and helped Kittel stay near the front of the peloton before the ramp to the finish. A little later Julian Vermote arrived and the three congratulated each on an excellent performance.
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Kittel was hopeful but unsure if he had managed to take the leader’s blue jersey.
“I knew I could do it,” he told his teammates, talking about staying within reach of an overall victory, rather than the stage victory.
“Viviani was dropped; you could have the jersey,” Vermote said.
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