Kittel behind the learning curve

Observers of Marcel Kittel’s career might questions the accuracy of the phrase, ‘champions are born, not made’. The German sprint sensation, who enjoyed a career high at last year’s Tour De France, collecting four stage wins and ‘dethroning’ Mark Cavendish on the Manx Missile’s favoured Champs-Élysées finish, appears still to be very much a work in progress.

Today, while the Lotto-Belisol sprint train delivered another picture perfect performance, Kittel was left scrabbling for the wheels of his Giant-Shimano team-mates and out of contention. It was a similar story on stage four where the 25-year-old and his team-mates appeared to have learned little from their experience in the echelons that split the peloton on stage 13 of last year’s Tour, again forcing the sprinter from contention.

When Kittel arrives in position to contest the sprint, there are few that can live with him, a fact that even the great Cavendish has conceded. He will struggle to deliver on his undoubted potential, however, if he and his team-mates do not improve their positioning in the closing kilometres. Lotto-Belisol provide an excellent model, should they seek inspiration.