Last year he proved he was the top sprinter in the Tour de France when he sped to four stage wins, leaving others such as Mark Cavendish in his wake. Marcel Kittel showed again this weekend he is a major force in world cycling when he notched up two consecutive stage wins in the Giro d'Italia.
The tall German powered home first in front of government buildings in Dublin yesterday, his success following up upon a rather more straightforward victory in Belfast on Saturday. On both occasions he took on and beat some of the world’s best sprinters. Yesterday, though, he was badly positioned inside the final kilometre and had to make a huge effort up Westland Row and Merrion Square West to hit the front when it mattered.
Kittel edged past Ben Swift (Sky) just before the flag, with Elia Viviani (Cannondale) third and the rest of the peloton just behind. It was, he said, as much a result of his determination as his speed.
Good position
"I sprinted as hard as I could to the finish line. It was much longer than I would normally do it as I was not in a good position with 3-400 metres to go," he explained, talking about an effort which left him slumped on the ground in fatigue.
Kittel’s success came in front of huge crowds on the finishing straight, a turnout which concluded what was a superb showing over the three days held on this island. The event was embraced by the fans and this support was something that he and the other riders remarked upon afterwards.
One of those was the overnight race leader Michael Matthews. He took over the pink jersey from his Orica GreenEdge team-mate on Saturday and while he finished back in 16th place yesterday, his team’s strong ride in Friday’s opening team time trial plus the advantage gained saw him hold on at the top.
“It was incredible,” he said of his time in the pink jersey. “I was really thankful that the weather was pretty much okay at the start. I could wear my long sleeve jersey and show off my pink bike that the team provided for me.
“The crowds were really amazing today. It was pretty cool that everyone was screaming for me today, that was very nice. I still can’t really believe that I’ve got the jersey, even after wearing it all day. I am so happy I get to wear it in Italy on Tuesday.”
Matthews was caught up in a crash earlier in the stage but fortunately was not hurt. He said the accident occurred when the road narrowed from three lanes to two and riders converged. He was able to get going again and retains the pink jersey as the race transfers to Italy on today’s first rest day.
Irish riders Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff Saxo) and Philip Deignan (Sky) both finished safely in the peloton, achieving goals of getting through the three days here without any falls. Roche punctured inside the final ten kilometres of yesterday's stage but was well supported by his team and was able to chase back on before the finish, just avoiding the time loss he was dreading.
Six places
He rolled in 85th, six places ahead of Deignan, and said he was relieved to salvage a potentially tricky situation. He is 27th overall, 37 seconds off pink, while Deignan is a further 12 seconds back in 40th place.
Roche's first cousin Dan Martin crashed out of the race on Friday and had surgery yesterday on his collarbone; that procedure went well and he has been told he can start riding on the home trainer today.
That swift turnaround improves his chances of being ready in time for the Tour de France, which will become his main goal of the season.
Deignan told The Irish Times yesterday that Martin is in a similar situation to him earlier this year. Deignan crashed in February and was concerned about losing a lot of fitness, but was able to bounce back quickly and start training again.
He said that his form feels good and that he hopes to continue building condition as the race moves through Italy and heads for the high mountains.
“I feel in good shape and I hope to chase a stage win a little later on,” he said.
As was the case on Saturday, yesterday’s stage saw a breakaway move go clear early on and spend most of the day out front. They were hauled back before the line, though, paving the way for the bunch sprint and Kittel’s show of strength.
Matthews was generous in his praise of Kittel. “I guess he has shown that he is the fastest man in the world,” he said. “For the sprinters like me who can climb, it is pretty hard to beat him on a flat stage.”
He isn’t giving up on the possibility of taking a stage win himself, though. “I think once it start to get hilly, it will hopefully take some of his top end power away and other sprinters like me can try.”
Many other riders will also have stage wins on their minds, not least Deignan and Roche. The latter is targeting a strong overall finish too and according to Chris Juul Jensen, a Danish rider on his team who grew up in Ireland, Roche is riding very strongly. “He is where he needs to be,” he said.
