German fast man Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) is, according to Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), the next big thing in sprinting.
According to Kittel, former world road race champion Cavendish, is – alongside Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) – the world’s best.
And the two sprinting rivals are in scintillating form as the Tour de France Grand Depart draws ever closer, where both will do battle for the yellow jersey on stage one.
Kittel won the maillot jaune last year, denying the Manx Missile one of few jerseys he was yet to get his hands on.
But the British champion has home advantage this time out, with stage one concluding in Harrogate – his mother’s hometown.
So what can we expect when the two fastest men go head-to-head in July? We have compared the two over the following pages.
