Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) claimed his 10th career Tour de France victory on Sunday, powering his way to first over the finish line in Liège with a late surge from behind. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) was second and André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) third, with Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) an impressive fourth after his recent illness.
Team Sky's Geraint Thomas finished safely in the peloton to retain the race leader's yellow jersey but a ten-second stage winner's time bonus moved Kittel to third overall at six seconds and so within reach of yellow.
Bora-Hansgrohe opened the sprint, with Peter Sagan in the wind too early, and the world champion faded back to finish 10th. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) also tried to lead from the front but only offered Kittel a perfect lead out. Kittel became the first rider to win a Tour de France sprint on a bike equipped with disc-brakes.
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"I'm super-relieved became in reality, I honestly don’t care how many stages I win, it’s about moments, and if have to finish with 10 wins or whatever amount, still be very proud," Kittel said.
"It's a very special win for us, because Dusseldorf's in Germany, and when we saw all the number of fans there, it made us very proud of this victory, it's a chance I've had.
"I felt I had the right moment and went for it, full gas," he said before being asked about his chances of taking the yellow jersey now he is only six seconds down on Thomas thanks to the 10-second stage winner's time bonus.
"We'll see, tomorrow's not so easy, it'll be a bit like stage two last year. We'll see what we can do. We've got Gilbert and Matteo Trentin too for that," Kittle said.
The stage was marked by a long breakaway that lasted over 200 kilometres in often heavy rain.
How it unfolded
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 2, 2017
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