De Panne: Kittel wins stage 3a sprint

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Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) won the 111km morning road race stage at the Three Days of De Panne on Thursday morning, beating Phil Bauhaus (Bora-Argon 18) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) in the sprint after a crash in the final corner, only 300m from the finish, split the peloton.

Kittel had not won a sprint since the Volta ao Algarve in February but was given an excellent lead out by his Etixx-QuickStep teammates and then had the speed to come past Kristoff in the finishing straight. Bauhaus was on his compatriot’s wheel and so secured second place. Other sprinters were further back and disrupted by the late crash that left several riders on the ground, including Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal). 

Kristoff kept the race lead and will defend it in the afternoon’s 14.2km time trial around De Panne. He faces a threat from Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), who is only seven seconds behind, with his Astana teammate Lieuwe Westra third at 12 seconds.

The split stage started early, at 9:30 but that did not put off the riders and a break of seven riders went clear early.

They were kept under control but allowed to sweep up a late time bonuses before eventually being caught with six kilometres to go. Frenchman Hugo Hofstetter (Cofidis) tried a solo attack as did his Belgian teammate Kenneth Vanbilsen. However the sprinters’ teams were firmly in charge, with Etixx-Quickstep leading the sprint to the final corner.

Several riders went into the barriers, blocking the road for many, Kittel and Kristoff avoided the spill and so fought for victory, with Bauhaus coming through for second from Kittel’s wheel.

“The stage itself was not difficult; it was flat, there was little wind we controlled the race,” Kittel explained.

“The last lap was very difficult, it was difficult to maintain the position and I lost it once, but Sabatini helped me to get back up. The last corner is incredibly difficult, if you don’t not get through in the leading positions, you have no chance. But I finally got a victory at De Panne and so I’m very happy,”

“Honestly and to be constructive for the future, I think there should be a fewer corners before the finish. Also with the last lap, with the tram rails inside the last 10km is something you can improve. I think the organisers can maybe have a look at that and maybe there is something possible,” he said.

Kittel also confirmed that he will ride next week’s Scheldeprijs race, the mid-week race that always suits the sprinters and the German is upbeat about is form.

“That’s my next race and my next objective for me now. The real season starts with my real highlights and I think I’m on a good way,” he said.

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