Marcel Kittel has continued his incredible domination of the sprint finishes by claiming his third stage out of four at the Tour de France.
But there was a scare for defending champion Chris Froome who crashed early on and injured his left wrist on Tuesday.
There were no such worries for Vincenzo Nibali, though, who retained his race leader’s yellow jersey.
Australian Mark Renshaw meanwhile dropped to third to finish 7th on Tuesday after OPQS put all eight riders on the front in the final five kilometres in anticipation of the bunch sprint.
Following victories in the first and third stages in England on Saturday and Monday, Kittel just edged out Norway’s Alexander Kristoff on the 163.5km fourth stage from Le Touquet to Lille.
Despite also winning four stages last year, the 26-year-old German said he was surpassing his own expectations.
“Before the race I said my goal was to win one stage. I said last year it was unique to win four stages and wear the yellow jersey,” Kittel said. “Yet again, it’s a little similar this year.
“It’s very unique and not something you can expect every time. I’m very happy it’s working so well.”
You might like
Elsewhere, the major news of the day was the crash that saw Froome hit the deck.
He will undergo an X-ray later on Tuesday as a precaution, his Sky team manager Dave Brailsford said.
Froome suffered grazing to his left thigh and elbow but it was his wrist that seemed to bother him most.
After a trip to the medical car, he came back with a splint on his left wrist and bandaging on his left thigh and right hand.
The other major news was the abandonment of former winner Andy Schleck with a knee injury.
Schleck, 29, the 2010 champion, crashed during Monday’s third stage from Cambridge to London after a spectator standing in the road disrupted the peloton.
“Very disappointed to let you know that I will not be able to start,” he said on his Twitter feed.
“My knee is too damaged from the crash. This is a huge blow for me.”
His Trek team said on Twitter that he would need an operation.
“The ligaments and meniscus in the right knee are too severely damaged from his crash in yesterday’s final,” said Trek.
Stay informed, daily
“He will travel to Basel now for examination and a possible operation.”
The news continues a miserable last couple of years for the Luxembourger.
He missed the 2012 Tour after breaking a bone in his lower back in a crash at the Criterium du Dauphine a month beforehand.
Since then he has failed to muster anything like the form that took him to top two finishes in three successive Tours from 2009 to 2011.
Earlier this year he failed to finish any of the three Ardennes Classics and crashed in two of them.
He also had an anonymous ride at last month’s Tour de Suisse and suffered the ignominy of being removed as Trek’s team leader for the Tour.
He was instead supposed to help brother Frank Schleck and veteran Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia in the high mountain stages.
Schleck’s fall from grace these last couple of years has mystified those in the cycling world.
Once thought of as the next great prospect in cycling and a potential multiple Tour winner, his best result in any race since finishing second at the 2011 Tour is a 20th place finish in the Grand Boucle in 2013.
It was thought that Trek’s decision to take him out of the spotlight at this Tour would give him the chance to rediscover some of his old form and perhaps win a mountain stage.
He himself insisted before the start of the Tour that he still had a lot to offer the sport.
“I believe I still have a name and I believe I have good capacities and good legs,” he said last week.
“I go into the Tour with lower ambitions than the years before; my first objective is to be there to help Frank and Haimar in the climbs.
“There’s still a good chance for me to go for a stage. The Tour de France has lots of opportunities.”
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
