Mark’s Fourth Triumph

Stage 14 was another chance for the sprinters. The king’s return — and what a return — has disappointed many. After all, the Tour peloton has many specialists used to winning, for whom victory just won’t come at this year’s Tour. The only exception among the three German specialists is Marcel Kittel, who, as we remember, won a very hard sprint on stage 4. The others, Germans and non-Germans alike, can’t manage to succeed, and naturally everyone would try to give their all to make use of one of the last chances.

The stage went accordingly: the sprinters’ teams didn’t let go of the race’s reins for a second. They handled the race’s challenges brilliantly, and in the finishing corridor all the main specialists were left facing each other in more or less good positions.

Kittel opened a beautiful sprint, with Mark on his wheel, who made use of the favorable position. Using his main rival’s wheel, at the right moment his sprinter’s instinct didn’t let him down, and with a counterattack he took his fourth win. All the other riders tried separately, but nobody could get close to Cavendish. At the finish Mark did cross Marcel’s line, which could have led to his win being annulled, but the commissaires quite rightly decided it hadn’t affected the result. I think Marcel’s defeat lies in starting the sprint too early — it was he who made the tactical mistake.

 

 

It’s enough to list the top seven of the sprint to understand how great a win in such a constellation is: Cavendish, Kristoff, Sagan, Degenkolb, Kittel, Greipel, Coquard! All that’s left is to say it once more: the king is back!

 

 

 

Featured image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com

Inside post thumbnail image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com

 

Special thanks to the Japanese photographer Yuzuru SUNADA for permission to use his works in our publications.

 

 

 

 

Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.