Kittel makes up for De Panne miss with stage 3a win

Marcel Kittel grabbed a sprint victory at Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde Thursday, taking stage 3a in a reduced-field sprint after a crash took out many riders near the finish.

The Etixx – Quick-Step rider edged Phil Bauhaus of Bora – Argon 18 and Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff at the line.

Kristoff maintained his grip on the overall race lead entering Thursday’s stage 3b, with Astana duo Alexey Lutsenko and Lieuwe Westra 7 and 12 seconds behind.

Stage 3a, top 10

• 1. Marcel KITTEL, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, in 2:27:03
• 2. Phil BAUHAUS, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 3. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
• 4. Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 5. Luka MEZGEC, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :00
• 6. Marc SARREAU, FDJ, at :00
• 7. Michael VAN STAEYEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :00
• 8. Erik BASKA, TINKOFF, at :00
• 9. Raymond KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00
• 10. Marko KUMP, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :00

Top-10 overall

• 1. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, in 11:50:25
• 2. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :07
• 3. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :12
• 4. Mads PEDERSEN, SSG, at :45
• 5. Bert VAN LERBERGHE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :47
• 6. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :48
• 7. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at :50
• 8. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :50
• 9. Michael MORKOV, TEAM KATUSHA, at :51
• 10. Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :52

 
Stage 3a was a 112-kilometer route beginning and ending in De Panne, Belgium, while stage 3b is a 14.2km individual time trial.

Thursday’s early stage at the cobbled Belgian classic featured road furniture and train tracks in the final portion of the route, and with 300 meters to go a difficult corner caused a crash that stopped most of the peloton. Twelve riders were left to contest the sprint.

“Yesterday it was very close and missing out on the victory left me with a sorrow taste, so this morning I was very motivated to make up for it,” Kittel said, referring to his runner-up finish in Wednesday’s stage 2. “I am very happy to reach my goal and get that stage for which I came here. My legs were good and strong, and the team worked really well. We were up there at the front, controlling the six-man breakaway with Iljo and Davide. But it wasn’t about only one rider today, the entire team was impressive and I must thank the guys for that.”

Kittel joined Etixx for this season and has netted six victories — five stage wins and the overall at the Dubai Tour.

“Now I’m looking with confidence towards my next objectives of the season, Scheldeprijs and the Giro d’Italia,” Kittel said.

Stage 3a results

• 1. Marcel KITTEL, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, in 2:27:03
• 2. Phil BAUHAUS, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 3. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
• 4. Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 5. Luka MEZGEC, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :00
• 6. Marc SARREAU, FDJ, at :00
• 7. Michael VAN STAEYEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :00
• 8. Erik BASKA, TINKOFF, at :00
• 9. Raymond KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00
• 10. Marko KUMP, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :00
• 11. Eduard Michael GROSU, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :00
• 12. Andrea GUARDINI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 13. Danny VAN POPPEL, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 14. Magnus Cort NIELSEN, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :00
• 15. Sylvain CHAVANEL, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :00
• 16. Paolo SIMION, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 17. Bert VAN LERBERGHE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 18. Jacopo GUARNIERI, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
• 19. Florian SENECHAL, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :00
• 20. Alberto BETTIOL, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at :00
• 21. Jack BAUER, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at :00
• 22. Mads PEDERSEN, SSG, at :00
• 23. Alex KIRSCH, SSG, at :00
• 24. Hugo Hofstetter, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :00
• 25. Adrien PETIT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :00
• 26. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 27. Mirco MAESTRI, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 28. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 29. Laurens DE VREESE, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 30. Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 31. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 32. Nils POLITT, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
• 33. André LOOIJ, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00
• 34. Ivar SLIK, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00
• 35. Nikolay TRUSOV, TINKOFF, at :00
• 36. Maxime FARAZIJN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 37. Jonas RICKAERT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 38. Sonny COLBRELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 39. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 40. Michael Carbel SVENDGAARD, SSG, at :00
• 41. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 42. Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 43. Ryan ANDERSON, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :00
• 44. Juraj SAGAN, TINKOFF, at :00
• 45. Michael REIHS, SSG, at :00
• 46. Michael MORKOV, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
• 47. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 48. Loic VLIEGEN, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 49. Sean DE BIE, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 50. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :00
• 51. Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :00
• 52. Federico ZURLO, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :00
• 53. Jonas TENBROCK, SSG, at :00
• 54. Pavel BRUTT, TINKOFF, at :00
• 55. Sergey NIKOLAEV, GAZ, at :00
• 56. Michal KOLÁR, TINKOFF, at :00
• 57. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at :00
• 58. Julien MORICE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :00
• 59. Alexandre PICHOT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :38
• 60. Stefan KUENG, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 61. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :00
• 62. Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 63. Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :00
• 64. Maciej BODNAR, TINKOFF, at :00
• 65. Antonio VIOLA, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :00
• 66. Dylan TEUNS, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 67. Sander HELVEN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 68. Sjoerd VAN GINNEKEN, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00
• 69. Viktor MANAKOV, GAZ, at :00
• 70. Olivier LE GAC, FDJ, at :00
• 71. Scott THWAITES, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 72. Ralf MATZKA, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 73. Lukasz WISNIOWSKI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 74. Maximiliano Ariel RICHEZE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 75. Riccardo STACCHIOTTI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :00
• 76. Luka PIBERNIK, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at :00
• 77. Gianfranco ZILIOLI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :00
• 78. Gert JOEAAR, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :00
• 79. Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV, GAZ, at :00
• 80. Igor BOEV, GAZ, at :00
• 81. Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at :00
• 82. Filippo POZZATO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at :00
• 83. Marcin BIALOBLOCKI, ONE PRO CYCLING, at :00
• 84. Fabio SABATINI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :00
• 85. Alan MARANGONI, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at :00
• 86. Jan BARTA, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 87. Yohann GENE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :47
• 88. Lasse Norman HANSEN, SSG, at :00
• 89. Andrew FENN, TEAM SKY, at :00
• 90. Pim LIGTHART, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 91. Frederik FRISON, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 92. Marcel SIEBERG, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 93. Andreas SCHILLINGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at :53
• 94. Stijn STEELS, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :00
• 95. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :58
• 96. Murilo Antonio FISCHER, FDJ, at :00
• 97. Tom BOHLI, BMC RACING TEAM, at :00
• 98. Shane ARCHBOLD, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 99. Lukas PÖSTLBERGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 1:00
• 100. Zakkari DEMPSTER, BORA-ARGON 18, at :00
• 101. Kristian HOUSE, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 1:00
• 102. Marco HALLER, TEAM KATUSHA, at :00
• 103. Romain CARDIS, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :00
• 104. Svein TUFT, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 1:18
• 105. Kenneth VAN BILSEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 1:24
• 106. Pier Paolo DE NEGRI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 1:35
• 107. Berden DE VRIES, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :00
• 108. André GREIPEL, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :00
• 109. Mamyr STASH, GAZ, at :00
• 110. Alexander PORSEV, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:53
• 111. Roberto FERRARI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 1:53
• 112. Sam BEWLEY, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 2:08
• 113. Giuseppe FONZI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 2:08
• 114. Ivan SAVITSKIY, GAZ, at :00
• 115. Daniel HOELGAARD, FDJ, at :00
• 116. Iljo KEISSE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 3:00
• 117. Davide MARTINELLI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 3:00
• 118. Sergey LAGUTIN, TEAM KATUSHA, at 3:00
• DNF Lars Ytting BAK, LOTTO SOUDAL
• DNF Christian KNEES, TEAM SKY
• DNF Michel KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON
• DNS Viacheslav KUZNETSOV, TEAM KATUSHA
• DNS Lars BOOM, ASTANA PRO TEAM
• DNS Jens KEUKELEIRE, ORICA – GreenEDGE
• DNS Ian STANNARD, TEAM SKY
• DNS Pieter VANSPEYBROUCK, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE

General classification

• 1. Alexander KRISTOFF, TEAM KATUSHA, in 11:50:25
• 2. Alexey LUTSENKO, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :07
• 3. Lieuwe WESTRA, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :12
• 4. Mads PEDERSEN, SSG, at :45
• 5. Bert VAN LERBERGHE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :47
• 6. Luke DURBRIDGE, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at :48
• 7. Rick ZABEL, BMC RACING TEAM, at :50
• 8. Tony MARTIN, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at :50
• 9. Michael MORKOV, TEAM KATUSHA, at :51
• 10. Amaury CAPIOT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :52
• 11. Florian SENECHAL, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at :52
• 12. Alex KIRSCH, SSG, at :52
• 13. Alberto BETTIOL, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at :52
• 14. Laurens DE VREESE, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :52
• 15. Gijs VAN HOECKE, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at :52
• 16. Sylvain CHAVANEL, DIRECT ENERGIE, at :52
• 17. Juraj SAGAN, TINKOFF, at :52
• 18. Sean DE BIE, LOTTO SOUDAL, at :52
• 19. Nikolay TRUSOV, TINKOFF, at :52
• 20. Nils POLITT, TEAM KATUSHA, at :52
• 21. Sonny COLBRELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at :52
• 22. Iuri FILOSI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at :52
• 23. Stefan KUENG, BMC RACING TEAM, at :52
• 24. Scott THWAITES, BORA-ARGON 18, at :52
• 25. Dmitriy GRUZDEV, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :52
• 26. Berden DE VRIES, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at :52
• 27. Pim LIGTHART, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 1:06
• 28. Johan LE BON, FDJ, at 1:15
• 29. Loic VLIEGEN, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:17
• 30. Dylan TEUNS, BMC RACING TEAM, at 1:17
• 31. Filippo POZZATO, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 1:17
• 32. Marco HALLER, TEAM KATUSHA, at 1:23
• 33. Danny VAN POPPEL, TEAM SKY, at 2:23
• 34. Hugo Hofstetter, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 3:35
• 35. Stijn STEELS, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 3:36
• 36. Luka MEZGEC, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 3:38
• 37. Jonas RICKAERT, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 3:38
• 38. Maxime FARAZIJN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 3:38
• 39. Mirco MAESTRI, BARDIANI CSF, at 3:38
• 40. Hayden MCCORMICK, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 3:38
• 41. Raymond KREDER, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 3:38
• 42. Ryan ANDERSON, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 3:38
• 43. Sander HELVEN, TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE, at 3:38
• 44. Shane ARCHBOLD, BORA-ARGON 18, at 3:38
• 45. Luka PIBERNIK, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 3:38
• 46. Gert JOEAAR, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 3:53
• 47. Ivar SLIK, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 3:55
• 48. Tom BOHLI, BMC RACING TEAM, at 3:56
• 49. Jan BARTA, BORA-ARGON 18, at 3:57
• 50. Zakkari DEMPSTER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 4:19
• 51. Kristian HOUSE, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 4:38
• 52. Andreas SCHILLINGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 4:56
• 53. Jack BAUER, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 5:30
• 54. Riccardo STACCHIOTTI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 5:49
• 55. Alexander PORSEV, TEAM KATUSHA, at 5:56
• 56. Eduard Michael GROSU, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 6:17
• 57. Marc SARREAU, FDJ, at 6:17
• 58. Jacopo GUARNIERI, TEAM KATUSHA, at 6:17
• 59. André LOOIJ, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 6:17
• 60. Michael REIHS, SSG, at 6:17
• 61. Olivier LE GAC, FDJ, at 6:17
• 62. Marcel SIEBERG, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 6:32
• 63. Sjoerd VAN GINNEKEN, ROOMPOT – ORANJE PELOTON, at 6:36
• 64. Federico ZURLO, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 6:42
• 65. Andrei SOLOMENNIKOV, GAZ, at 6:42
• 66. Ralf MATZKA, BORA-ARGON 18, at 6:58
• 67. Frederik FRISON, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 7:14
• 68. Kenneth VAN BILSEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 8:38
• 69. Roberto FERRARI, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 8:54
• 70. Marcel KITTEL, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 10:27
• 71. Fabio SABATINI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 10:39
• 72. Lukasz WISNIOWSKI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 11:04
• 73. Julien MORICE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 12:09
• 74. Magnus Cort NIELSEN, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 13:31
• 75. Ivan SAVITSKIY, GAZ, at 13:31
• 76. Pavel BRUTT, TINKOFF, at 13:31
• 77. Guillaume VAN KEIRSBULCK, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 13:56
• 78. Marcin BIALOBLOCKI, ONE PRO CYCLING, at 13:56
• 79. Elia VIVIANI, TEAM SKY, at 14:28
• 80. Erik BASKA, TINKOFF, at 14:38
• 81. Marko KUMP, LAMPRE – MERIDA, at 14:38
• 82. Michael VAN STAEYEN, COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS, at 14:38
• 83. Adrien PETIT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 14:38
• 84. Floris GERFS, BMC RACING TEAM, at 14:38
• 85. Paolo SIMION, BARDIANI CSF, at 14:38
• 86. Andrea GUARDINI, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 14:38
• 87. Michal KOLÁR, TINKOFF, at 14:38
• 88. Maciej BODNAR, TINKOFF, at 14:38
• 89. André GREIPEL, LOTTO SOUDAL, at 14:38
• 90. Romain CARDIS, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 14:38
• 91. Davide MARTINELLI, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 14:46
• 92. Maximiliano Ariel RICHEZE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 14:49
• 93. Jonas TENBROCK, SSG, at 14:57
• 94. Michael Carbel SVENDGAARD, SSG, at 15:03
• 95. Alan MARANGONI, CANNONDALE PRO CYCLING TEAM, at 15:03
• 96. Alexandre PICHOT, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 15:15
• 97. Jakob FUGLSANG, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 15:28
• 98. Alessandro TONELLI, BARDIANI CSF, at 15:35
• 99. Murilo Antonio FISCHER, FDJ, at 15:35
• 100. Andrew FENN, TEAM SKY, at 15:39
• 101. Pier Paolo DE NEGRI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 16:13
• 102. Yohann GENE, DIRECT ENERGIE, at 16:13
• 103. Lukas PÖSTLBERGER, BORA-ARGON 18, at 16:50
• 104. Giuseppe FONZI, SOUTHEAST – VENEZUELA, at 17:11
• 105. Iljo KEISSE, ETIXX – QUICK STEP, at 17:45
• 106. Svein TUFT, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 20:33
• 107. Sergey LAGUTIN, TEAM KATUSHA, at 21:22
• 108. Sam BEWLEY, ORICA – GreenEDGE, at 21:23
• 109. Sergey NIKOLAEV, GAZ, at 23:52
• 110. Daniel HOELGAARD, FDJ, at 23:52
• 111. Phil BAUHAUS, BORA-ARGON 18, at 26:40
• 112. Viktor MANAKOV, GAZ, at 26:44
• 113. Antonio VIOLA, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 27:51
• 114. Igor BOEV, GAZ, at 27:51
• 115. Yuma KOISHI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 27:51
• 116. Lasse Norman HANSEN, SSG, at 27:51
• 117. Gianfranco ZILIOLI, NIPPO – VINI FANTINI, at 27:51
• 118. Mamyr STASH, GAZ, at 27:51