Skil-Shimano rider Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory in stage one of the Four Days of Dunkirk, besting Katusha's Denis Galimzyanov and Leopard-Trek's Giacomo Nizzolo. All three riders are eligible in the U25 category, staying ahead of more experienced fast men like Jimmy Casper (Saur-Sojasun) and Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux). After the 180 kilometers, Kittel took over the overall, points and young riders classification.
The Skil-Shimano riders had a plan. "During the stage we talked about the plan for the sprint," Kittel said. The talk was good, even though the sprint wasn't easy for the German. "There were a lot of curves and it was very nervous, but my teammates brought me into perfect position."
Kittel had told Velonation during the Critérium International that his races are the northern classics. He has now confirmed this. "My legs felt great. But that I can win here... I am speechless."
The team followed the pre-race orders to perfection. "Everything went according to plan," said sports director Christian Guiberteau. "We had determined that Kittel would sprint."
A long solo break by Stefano Borchi (De Rosa) dominated the day. Borchi took off at kilometer 80 and had a maximum lead of seven and a half minutes, but was caught with around 15 kilometers to go. This was thanks to the initiative of two teams banking on a sprint. "Alexander Geniez and Thierry Hupond rode at the front together with Katusha in order to reel in the breakaway," Guiberteau said. "Then Mitchell Docker, Bert de Backer and Roger Kluge formed a very strong sprint train for Marcel."
Kittel won two intermediate sprints and received precious bonus seconds. He also received a bonus for the win, which gave him the pink leader's jersey by ten seconds over Galimzyanov.
The Skil Shimano has picked up sprint wins by Simon Geschke in the Critérium International and most recently Kenny van Hummel beat André Greipel in the final stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey. The team has put up a short video clip on its website, detailing the work performed throughout the winter for getting ready in the sprints.