Marcel Kittel
.jpg) Kittel at the 2015 Tour Down Under | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Marcel Kittel |
| Born |
11 May 1988 Arnstadt, East Germany |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb; 12.9 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 | |
| |
|
Infobox last updated on 6 February 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 wasn't 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 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]
Palmarès
Source:[24]
- 2004
- 1st
National Novices Road Race Championships - 2005
- 1st
World Juniors Time Trial Championships - 2nd National Junior Time Trial Championships
- 2006
- 1st World Juniors Time Trial Championships
- 1st National Juniors Team Time Trial Championships
- with Lucas Schädlich, Markus Fahnert & Benjamin Hentschel
- 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 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 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 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
- 1st
- Tour of Oman
- 1st Stages 3 & 6
- Eneco Tour
- 1st Stages 1 & 4
- Tour de l'Eurometropole
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- 1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges
- 1st Stage 2 Three Days of De Panne
- 2013
- 1st
Overall Tour de Picardie
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1 & 3
- 1st
- 1st Scheldeprijs
- 1st Omloop van het Houtland
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 1, 10, 12 & 21
- Held after Stage 1
- Held after Stages 1 & 2
- Tour of Turkey
- 1st Stages 1, 7 & 8
- 1st Stage 1 Tour of Oman
- 1st Stage 2 Paris–Nice
- 1st ProRace Berlin
- 6th Overall Ster ZLM Toer
- 1st Stage 2
- 2014
- 1st People's Choice Classic
- 1st Scheldeprijs
- Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- Held
after Stages 2 & 3
- 1st Stage 1 Ster ZLM Toer
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 1, 3, 4 & 21
- Held & after Stage 1
- Tour of Britain
- 1st Stages 1 & 8b
- 5th Overall Three Days of De Panne
- 6th Overall Dubai Tour
- 1st Stages 2, 3 & 4
- 1st Points classification
- 6th Vattenfall Cyclassics
- 2015
- Tour de Pologne
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st
Points classification
- 1st People's Choice Classic
- 2016
- 1st
Overall Dubai Tour
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1 & 4
- 1st
- Volta ao Algarve
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1 & 4
- 1st
- 1st Stage 3a Three Days of De Panne
- 1st Scheldeprijs
- 1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie
Grand Tour record
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro | DNE | DNE | DNE | DNF-4 | DNE |
| Stages won | - | - | - | 2 | - |
| Points classification | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tour | DNE | DNF-5 | 166 | 161 | DNE |
| Stages won | - | 0 | 4 | 4 | - |
| Points classification | - | - | 4 | 4 | - |
| Vuelta | DNF-12 | DNE | DNE | DNE | DNE |
| Stages won | 1 | - | - | - | - |
| Points classification | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 2 "Marcel Kittel profile".
- ↑ 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) - ↑ "Kittel leads Argos-Shimano at Tour de France". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 19 June 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ↑ Decaluwé, Brecht (5 July 2012). "Kittel quits Tour de France on stage five". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). Retrieved 5 July 2012.
- ↑ "Kittel makes winning return at Eneco Tour". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ↑ Atkins, Ben (9 August 2012). "Kittel sprints to stage four as Boonen sneaks into the lead". VeloNation (VeloNation LLC). Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ "Kittel takes second win at Eneco Tour". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
- ↑ "Kittel "sick" of Armstrong supporters". CyclingNews (Future Publishing Limited). 26 October 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ↑ "Argos-Shimano Team celebrates its new WorldTour license". CyclingNews (Future Publishing Limited). 10 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ↑ "Tour of Oman: Marcel Kittel Wins Stage 1". Bicycling. AFP. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Tour of Britain: Kittel wins stage 1 in Liverpool". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
- ↑ "Kittel wins final Tour of Britain stage". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ↑ "Marcel Kittel opens 2015 account with victory in the People’s Choice Classic". VeloNews (Competitor Group, Inc.). 19 January 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Daniel Benson (1 May 2015). "Marcel Kittel abandons Tour de Yorkshire on stage 1". Cyclingnews.com (Future plc). Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ O'Shea, Sadhbh (25 June 2015). "Marcel Kittel will not ride Tour de France". Cyclingnews.com (Immediate Media Company). Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ↑ Brown, Gregor (26 June 2015). "Kittel: This is the most difficult time of my career". Cycling Weekly (Time Inc. UK). Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ↑ "Marcel Kittel joins Etixx - Quick-Step, Ivan Basso retires". bbc.co.uk. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ↑ Caley, Fretz (6 February 2016). "Kittel takes stage, overall in Dubai". VeloNews (Competitor Group, Inc.). Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ↑ Farrand, Stephan (17 February 2016). "Volta ao Algarve: Kittel wins stage 1 in Albufeira". Cyclingnews.com (Immediate Media Company). Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ↑ 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) - ↑ Profile at Cycling Archives
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcel Kittel. |
- Official website
- Marcel Kittel profile at ProCyclingStats
- Marcel Kittel profile at Cycling Archives
- Marcel Kittel profile at Cycling Quotient
- Marcel Kittel profile at Giant-Shimano