Tour de France: If you give up you can go home, says Kittel

Image 1 of 5

Marcel Kittel half-threw, half-placed his bike against the Katusha-Alpecin bus when he arrived back after stage 4 of the Tour de France, as if he wanted to unleash his fury but suddenly thought better of it. The German had placed fifth, and while the frustration was clear to see, there wasn’t quite enough to warrant damaging an €8,000 piece of equipment.

Kittel dominated the sprints at last year’s Tour, collecting no fewer than five victories, but he has found life a little less straightforward this time around.