Kittel continues win streak

Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) completed a hat-trick of stage wins at the Tour of Poland with yet another powerful finishing sprint in Katowice.

Both the Omega Pharma-Lotto and HTC-Highroad teams started their lead-outs too early and Kittel took advantage of their efforts before blasting along the barriers and hitting the front. The sprint was downhill and super-fast but Kittel had the legs and the speed to win by a bike length, again sitting up well before the line to celebrate his third consecutive stage win. Kittel revealed that he hit a top speed of 78.2km/h during the sprint.

Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) emerged from the fighting behind to take second, with Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Saxo Bank Sungard) third and young Italian Giacomo Nizzolo (Leopard Trek) fourth. Britain’s Adam Blythe (Omega Pharma-Lotto) was fifth, Alexander Kristoff (BMC) was sixth and Tom Boonen (Quick Step) was seventh, all spread across the road in a close sprint, but all well beaten by Kittel.

Kittel’s third win means he extends his overall race to 17 seconds over Adrian Kurek (Poland) and 22 seconds ahead of Gianluca Maggiore (De Rosa-Ceramica Flaminia).

Kittel imitated Mark Cavendish by hugging and thanking each of his teammates after his win. It was the 23-year-old German's eleventh victory of the 2011 season.

"I've to say a big thank you to my teammates. They were a bit tired after the job they did on the first two stages but they did a great job again today,” Kittel said in the post-race press conference.

“Every victory gives me more self confidence and creates a feeling of respect from the other riders, which is very nice for me and my teammates.”

Five-rider breakaway

Before the high-speed finale, the flat 135.7km stage was dominated by a breakaway by five riders. Lukasz Bodnar (CCC Polsat-Polkowice), Arkimedes Arguelyes (Katusha), Daniel Sesma (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Gianluca Maggiore (DeRosa-Ceramina Flaminia) and Piotr Gawronski (Poland) jumped away early in the stage after leaving Będzin and swept up the points at the three intermediate sprints.

They had opened a five-minute lead when they reached the finish line in Katowice for the first time but then began to attack each other during the final lap. Lukasz Bodnar made several attacks and eventually split the break, going clear alone to grab the television spotlight. He had a 20-second lead with one lap and 11km to go but the peloton chased them down with determination.

Kittel got it just right, coming up along the barriers before opening his speed as the road levelled. He was by far the fastest and celebrated by punching the air as he crossed the line.

The Tour of Poland continues in the south of the country on Wednesday with the 176.9km fourth stage from Oświęcim – Cieszyn. It includes four categorised climbs, including three ascents of the category one Kat Tauron.

It should indicate who are the real overall contenders in this year’s race and reveal how well Kittel can climb as he tries to defend his overall race leader’s yellow jersey.

“I think it'll be a stage more for Johannes Fröhlinger than for me," Kittel said, but his directeur sportif refused to rule out his chances.

“It’s a hard stage. Not as much as the two days after, but I'm very unsure whether Marcel will follow the best riders. That's said it might happen. It depends on how the race is going."