Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) continued his sprint dominance at the Tour de France, taking his third victory of the race in Nuits-Saint-Georges. But this time, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) came the closest to besting the German, forcing the judges to carefully review the finish photo before declaring Kittel the winner. Michael Matthews (Sunweb) was a close third.
The victory was Kittel's 12th in the Tour de France, equaling Erik Zabel's record for stage wins by a German rider in the race, and earned him the green jersey for leader of the points classification.
"It's an incredible success. I'm really proud of it," Kittel said. "I'm in great shape. I'm super happy that the team supported me so well today. I think we did a good lead-out. We believed in this chance, in this victory. It's just crazy. Being back here now in the Tour, after 2014 and 2013, celebrating now already three stage wins is incredible. I'm so happy about it and I enjoy every minute of it."
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The sprints continued to be as chaotic as they have been throughout the first week of the Tour, with green jersey Arnaud Démare (FDJ) clashing with Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) in the battle before the final kilometer. But when it came to the final meters, the French teams had used all of their energy on each other, leaving Quick-Step and Dimension Data in firm control of the front of the race.
Quick-Step seized control through to the 400-metres-to-go mark, but then Kittel wisely settled in on Boasson Hagen's wheel, letting South African champion Reinardt Janse van Rensburg lead out his teammate. But Kittel misjudged the finish, and almost waited too long, his bike throw just enough to win by a hair's width on the line.
"I had no clue whether I won or not on the finish line. I just thought, 'This is going to be close.' I tried to make myself three metres longer," Kittel said. "Actually, at 100 metres, when I was on Boasson Hagen's wheel and we came around the corner, I thought it was still 200 metres to go from there, but it was only 120 or something. Then I knew I just had to hope the door was open on the right side and that I could pass him. It was just enough."
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