BET-KE

There were 10 kilometers to the finish of the Saturday stage when the trains of the cyclists Movistar, Giant, Cannondal or FDJ were on the front of the main field. But after Etixx, I can’t even see the sound.

That Marcel Kittel would have lost his chance of winning the first mass roll-out?

No. Kittel then hanged himself for the round of Arnaud Demar, the March winner of the Milan-San Remo race. As a shadow behind him he stayed 500 meters in front of the target, then 400 and 300 meters. He fired forward up to 200 meters in front of the goal.

It is the right word to burn because he knew no one would threaten him for tens of meters before the goal.He had such a superiority!

The goal passed with his hands above his head and he approached the pink dream. h3>

It’s been five years since this twenty-seven-year-old cyclist peeked into a professional peloton. Back then in Skil-Shiman, the future Giant, he was given the first opportunity to show his quick legs at the Vuelta, where he immediately won the sixth stage. He did the same thing a year later and slowly took over the reins of the world’s best spurter.Marcel Kittel’s era came after Cavendish.

At least it seemed…

Last year was a nightmare. on the Australian Tour Down Under, a virus was introduced into the German express train, which triggered the domino effect. From February to May he took a racing break. But that didn’t help either.

He often didn’t have the strength to get into the final spurt, losing motivation, which was reflected in his will to train. It wasn’t the dreaded killer they were all afraid of. And he got it.

It all culminated in the announcement of Giant’s nomination for the Tour de France, which Kittel was missing.The forced pause in the spring was complicated, there were times when I wanted to throw the towel in, but I tried to stay strong, ”he said last June. “That I couldn’t get the team’s trust? This is a big blow to me. But I have to look ahead, I have to deal with it. ”

Already at that moment, it began to speak loudly that Kittel would not keep his contract with Giant, which he had for the 2016 season, and leave the team. “But we don’t want to go that far,” said Kittel’s manager, Jörg Werner, to the team’s fans.

Kittel subsequently won the first leg in Poland, but then nothing.

He wasn’t competitive again , again he looked as if the bike wasn’t even talking about him. The logical outcome was an agreement to end collaboration with Giant and leave for Etixx.Mark Cavendish has just left it…

Fresh Start

Spanish Calpe at a team camp, the German cyclist seemed to be back in his skin. All the fun, the biggest portion of all for breakfast.

Now just to keep the mood in the victory he was waiting for, the team’s sports directors wished.

He managed his position. The first stage in the new jersey at the Dubai Tour was dominated by the overall victory. He also won the Around the Algarve race, the Three Days De Panne, the Romandia and the Scheldeprijs. And the Giro was coming. Seven Flat Stages? The Italian Grand Tour has not long remembered that.In addition, the opening time trial for less than 10 kilometers and immediately behind it two stages with a possible mass exit. That was a huge chance for a pink jersey for all the spurters.

“I have had a pretty good spring and I am really looking forward to Giro. Perhaps it will be a nice result, ”the Arnstadt native wanted before the start.

Right in the opening time trial, he made an amazing, fifth best time! He lost only 11 seconds to the winning Dumoulin. So he remembered his young years when he was a junior world champion and a European champion up to 23 years of age in the ride against the chronometer. There is definitely no sharpener in the time trial.I came here for the stages, “he said at the finish. Because the dew was really close. All he had to do was win the Saturday stage and be among the top three on Sunday.

“I have enough confidence to beat him. Like on Three Days de Panne, Elia Viviani recalled his March victory. “I also hope to win on Saturday,” André Greipel wished again.

But none of Kittel’s paths could cross. He showed on Saturday that he was in a completely different category. “It was a wonderful day in an amazing atmosphere,” he said at the finish. He loses only a second to Dumoulin’s leader before Sunday’s leg.Just be in the finish line between the top three and the German spurter on the Monday day, who will be wearing the leader’s leotard.