German wins stage three in bunch sprint to take final victory
Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) blasted to victory in the third and final stage of the Tour Picardie, between Nanteuil-le-Haudouin and Soissons, with his eighth sprint victory earning him the final overall race title. The German sprinter was delivered to the line by his team at the end of the 171km stage, and powered over the line ahead of Vacansoleil-DCM duo Kenny van Hummel and Danny van Poppel.
Stage two winner and overall race leader Bryan Coquard (Europcar) could only managed 12th on the stage, and so time bonuses on the line gave Kittel the overall victory.
“We decided from the start that we would focus on the final sprint and not the intermediate one, so we decided to go all in,” said Kittel afterwards. “After we had lost Tom Veelers due to a crash, it was up to Ramon Sinkeldam to be my last lead-out man. He positioned me on the front to easily start sprinting with 200m to go. The lead-out went really well and just like Friday, you can see that everybody believes in our goal and stays cool which is what makes the difference and is the key to our success.
“I am really happy to win the final stage, but even more happier to win the General Classification today as well,” he added. “For a sprinter it doesn’t happen that often, so that makes it very special and I am really proud of it and of the team who made it happen.”
An early crash saw several riders come down, with Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) suffering a fractured collarbone. Shortly afterwards, with 12km covered, David Boucher (FDJ) attacked with Maxime Daniel (Sojasun) and Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) and the trio steadily moved clear of the peloton. Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) and Luca Wackermann (Lampre-Merida) tried to join the move but, after a long chase, were forced to sit up and wait for the peloton.
As Boucher led over the top of the Côte de Braine, after 81.5km, the breakaway threesome was 2’40” clear of the peloton, which was led by Coquard’s Europcar team, and its lead was to peak at three minutes as Daniel took the intermediate sprint, in Malval qith 70km to go.
Boucher again took the points over the Côte de Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, with 39.5km to go – securing the overall mountains classification – but the three riders were finally caught with 25km left.
Coquard took the second intermediate sprint, as the peloton crossed the finish line for the first time with just a 10.5km circuit to go, with the bonus seconds making him the outright race leader. Kittel was fastest at the finish, however, with the Frenchman only managing 12th in his wake.
Result stage 3
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Argos-Shimano
2. Kenny van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
3. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
4. Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis
5. Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto-Belisol
6. Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Sojasun
7. Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN-Qhubeka
8. Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida
9. Yannick Martinez (Fra) La Pomme Marseille
10. Maxime Le Montagner (Fra) Roubaix-Lille Métropole
Final overall standings
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Argos-Shimano
2. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar @ 7s
3. Kenny van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM @ 20s
4. Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
5. Sven Vandousselaere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise @ 21s
6. Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step @ 22s
7. Erwann Corbel (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environment
8. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM
9. Maxime Daniel (Fra) Sojasun @ 23s
10. Benjamin Giraud (Fra) La Pomme Marseille @ 24s