Marcel Kittel

Marcel Kittel

Kittel at the 2015 Tour Down Under
Personal information
Full name Marcel Kittel
Born (1988-05-11) 11 May 1988
Arnstadt, East Germany
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight 86 kg (190 lb; 13.5 st)[1]
Team information
Current team Etixx–Quick-Step
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Sprinter
Amateur team(s)
2007–2010 Thüringer Energie Team
Professional team(s)
2011–2015 Skil–Shimano
2016– Etixx–Quick-Step
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
9 individual stages (2013, 2014, 2016)
Giro d'Italia
4 individual stages (2014, 2016)
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2011)

Stage races

Dubai Tour (2016)

One-day races and Classics

Scheldeprijs (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016)
Münsterland Giro (2011, 2012)
Grand Prix de Fourmies (2016)
Infobox last updated on
9 October 2016

Marcel Kittel (born 11 May 1988) is a German racing cyclist, who rides for Etixx–Quick-Step.[2] As a junior, he specialised in time trials, even winning a bronze medal in the World Championships for cyclists aged under 23. When he became a professional in 2011, he specialised in bunch sprints, and he has won stages in each of the three Grand Tours.

Career

2012 season

Kittel made his Tour de France debut in 2012 when he was selected as leader of his team for the 2012 Tour de France, where he would compete for stage wins and the green jersey.[3] However he withdrew an hour into stage 5, after suffering from a viral infection of the stomach and intestines from stage 2, the fourth retirement of the 2012 Tour.[4] He bounced back in the beginning of August, when he won the first stage of the Eneco Tour, the first event in his return to racing. The only rider who was competitive with him in the final bunch sprint was Frenchman Arnaud Démare (FDJ–BigMat).[5] After bad luck struck on stage 3, where he suffered a flat tyre with 5 kilometres to go,[6] Kittel prevailed again on stage 4. He congratulated his teammates Tom Veelers and John Degenkolb for their work in the final kilometers, as they sheltered him from the wind before he propelled himself toward the finish line and the victory.[7] At the end of 2012, as the cycling world was affected by the Lance Armstrong doping case revelations, Kittel took a vocal anti-doping stance by stating that he was "sick" of the people who still defended Armstrong in the cycling community.[8]

2013 season

In 2013, Kittel's team Argos–Shimano was promoted to the first division of the sport and was granted World Tour status.[9] Kittel won the first stage of the Tour of Oman in a massive sprint, his first success of the season.[10] In the 2013 Tour de France, Kittel found incredible success as a sprinter. He finished first in the Tour's first stage in Corsica and took the inaugural Maillot jaune of the 100th Tour de France. He lost the yellow jersey the next day, however, to Jan Bakelants of RadioShack–Leopard. Kittel was not done in this Tour, though, he would go on to win the 10th and 12th stages. On the final stage, Kittel triumphed again on the Champs-Élysées, ending the four-year winning streak of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Mark Cavendish. He would finish 4th in the Green Jersey points standings.

2014 season

Kittel started the 2014 season early by winning the People's Choice Classic, followed by three consecutive stage wins at the Dubai Tour. On the third stage, he survived two short climbs near the end of the race and won the sprint of a greatly reduced group.[11] In April he won the 2014 Scheldeprijs for the third time in a row, being the first person in history to achieve this. In the Giro d'Italia, Kittel won stages 2 and 3 before abandoning the race between stage 3 and 4. As he did in 2013, Kittel won the opening stage at the Tour de France and took the yellow jersey, but lost it to Vincenzo Nibali on stage 2. However, Kittel won both stages 3 and 4. He also won the final stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as he did in 2013. In September, Kittel won the opening stage of the Tour of Britain by outsprinting Nicola Ruffoni and Mark Cavendish.[12] He also won the closing stage.[13]

2015 season

In January, Kittel won the People's Choice Classic in Australia for the second year in a row.[14] As of the end of April, he had competed in only two UCI races: the Tour Down Under and the Tour of Qatar. He failed to participate in any sprints in those races, as he was plagued by a virus. He returned to competition in May in the Tour de Yorkshire,[15] but he dropped out after riding 100 kilometers in the first stage.[16] He was supposed to make another comeback at the Tour of California but he withdrew days before the event, citing illness once again.[17] He did ride the Ster ZLM Toer, but could not finish in the top 10 of a stage. At the end of June, it was announced that Kittel would not participate in the Tour de France, since his condition was not up to par.[18] "Not being nominated [for the Tour] is without doubt the most difficult time of my career," said Kittel a day after his non-selection was made public.[19]

In October, it was announced that he had signed a two-year deal with Etixx–Quick-Step from 2016, after Team Giant–Alpecin released him from his contract a year early.[20]

2016 season

At the Dubai Tour, his inaugural race of the season, he won two stages, the overall classification as well as the points classification.[21] He carried on his successes to the Portuguese race Volta ao Algarve, winning stage 1 by a significant margin over André Greipel.[22] He also won stage 4 and the points classification jersey.[23]

Career achievements

Major results

Source:[24]

2004
1st National Novice Road Race Championships
2005
1st UCI World Junior Time Trial Championships
2nd National Junior Time Trial Championships
2006
1st UCI World Junior Time Trial Championships
1st National Junior Team Time Trial Championships
2007
1st National Under-23 Time Trial Championships
1st Stage 4 Brandenburg Rundfahrt
2008
1st Grosser Silber-Pils Preiss
1st Memorial Davide Fardelli
2nd Overall Brandenburg Rundfahrt
1st Stage 5
2009
1st European Under-23 Time Trial Championships
Flèche du Sud
1st Stages 1 & 3
1st Stage 4 Tour du Haut Anjou
1st Stage 6 Thüringen Rundfahrt
4th UCI World Under-23 Time Trial Championships
2010
1st National Under-23 Time Trial Championships
Tour de Moselle
1st Stages 2 & 4
2nd Overall Mainfranken-Tour
3rd UCI World Under-23 Time Trial Championships
3rd Overall Festningsrittet
1st Stage 2
2011
1st Overall Delta Tour Zeeland
1st Stage 1
1st ProRace Berlin
1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
1st Münsterland Giro
1st Amstel Curaçao Race
Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 5
Tour de Pologne
1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 7
Herald Sun Tour
1st Stages 3 & 5
1st Stage 3 Tour de Langkawi
1st Stage 7 Vuelta a España
2nd Rund um Köln
2012
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Omloop van het Houtland
1st Münsterland Giro
Ster ZLM Toer
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
Eneco Tour
1st Stages 1 & 4
Tour of Oman
1st Stages 3 & 6
Tour de l'Eurometropole
1st Stages 2 & 3
1st Stage 2 Three Days of De Panne
1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges
2013
Tour de France
1st Stages 1, 10, 12 & 21
Held after Stage 1
Held after Stages 1 & 2
1st Overall Tour de Picardie
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 3
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Omloop van het Houtland
1st ProRace Berlin
Tour of Turkey
1st Stages 1, 7 & 8
1st Stage 2 Paris–Nice
1st Stage 1 Tour of Oman
6th Overall Ster ZLM Toer
1st Stage 2
2014
Tour de France
1st Stages 1, 3, 4 & 21
Held & after Stage 1
Giro d'Italia
1st Stages 2 & 3
Held after Stages 2 & 3
1st People's Choice Classic
1st Scheldeprijs
Tour of Britain
1st Stages 1 & 8b
1st Stage 1 Ster ZLM Toer
5th Overall Three Days of De Panne
6th Overall Dubai Tour
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2, 3 & 4
6th Vattenfall Cyclassics
2015
Tour de Pologne
1st Points classification
1st Stage 1
1st People's Choice Classic
2016
1st World Team Time Trial Championships
Giro d'Italia
1st Stages 2 & 3
Held after Stage 3
Held after Stages 2–6
1st Overall Dubai Tour
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
Volta ao Algarve
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 3a Three Days of De Panne
1st Stage 4 Tour de France
1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
3rd National Road Race Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Giro DNE DNE DNE DNF-4 DNE DNS-9
Stages won - - - 2 - 2
Points classification - - - - - -
Tour DNE DNF-5 166 161 DNE 166
Stages won - 0 4 4 - 1
Points classification - - 4 4 - 2
Vuelta DNF-12 DNE DNE DNE DNE DNE
Stages won 1 - - - - -
Points classification - - - - - -
Legend
1 Winner
2–3 Top three-finish
4–10 Top ten-finish
11– Other finish
DNE Did Not Enter
DNF-x Did Not Finish (retired on stage x)
DNS-x Did Not Start (no started on stage x)
DSQ Disqualified
N/A Race/classification not held
NR Not Ranked in this classification

References

  1. 1 2 "Marcel Kittel profile".
  2. Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 26 October 2012 http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/etixx-quick-step-announce-marcel-kittel-signing-194222. Retrieved 5 October 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "Kittel leads Argos-Shimano at Tour de France". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  4. Decaluwé, Brecht (5 July 2012). "Kittel quits Tour de France on stage five". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  5. "Kittel makes winning return at Eneco Tour". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  6. Atkins, Ben (9 August 2012). "Kittel sprints to stage four as Boonen sneaks into the lead". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  7. "Kittel takes second win at Eneco Tour". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  8. "Kittel "sick" of Armstrong supporters". CyclingNews. Future Publishing Limited. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  9. "Argos-Shimano Team celebrates its new WorldTour license". CyclingNews. Future Publishing Limited. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  10. "Tour of Oman: Marcel Kittel Wins Stage 1". Bicycling. AFP. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  11. Stokes, Shane (7 February 2014). "Kittel grabs another stage win in Dubai Tour, Phinney resists attacks on final climbs". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  12. "Tour of Britain: Kittel wins stage 1 in Liverpool". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  13. "Kittel wins final Tour of Britain stage". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  14. "Marcel Kittel opens 2015 account with victory in the People's Choice Classic". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  15. Gregor Brown (28 April 2015). "Marcel Kittel makes comeback in Tour de Yorkshire after three-month break". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Sports & Leisure network. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  16. Daniel Benson (1 May 2015). "Marcel Kittel abandons Tour de Yorkshire on stage 1". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  17. Stuart Clarke (7 May 2015). "Marcel Kittel will not ride Tour of California as struggles continue". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Sports & Leisure network. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  18. O'Shea, Sadhbh (25 June 2015). "Marcel Kittel will not ride Tour de France". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  19. Brown, Gregor (26 June 2015). "Kittel: This is the most difficult time of my career". Cycling Weekly. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  20. "Marcel Kittel joins Etixx - Quick-Step, Ivan Basso retires". bbc.co.uk. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  21. Caley, Fretz (6 February 2016). "Kittel takes stage, overall in Dubai". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  22. Farrand, Stephan (17 February 2016). "Volta ao Algarve: Kittel wins stage 1 in Albufeira". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  23. Farrand, Stephn (20 February 2016). "Volta ao Algarve stage 4: Kittel dominates the sprint in Tavira". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 29 February. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  24. Profile at Cycling Archives
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