Kittel Crushes Sprint, Nibali Victorious

Vincenzo Nibali completed his victory in the 2014 Tour de France on Sunday as German sprinter Marcel Kittel won the final stage on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

AFP/Yuzuru Sunada

Nibali finished safely in the peloton to succeed Briton Chris Froome as Tour champion.

Jean-Christophe Peraud was second with fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot third. 

Kittel matched Nibali’s four stage wins on this year’s Tour with Norway’s Alexander Kristoff second in Paris and Ramunas Navardauskas of Lithuania third.

Nibali went straight to his wife and baby daughter after crossing the finish line to embrace both and celebrate with his family.

The 29-year-old Italian first took the yellow jersey on the second stage and although he lost it on the ninth stage, he claimed it straight back on Bastille Day, 24 hours later.

Sunday’s 137.5km 21st and final stage from Evry was always likely to end in a bunch sprint, with Nibali’s Astana team manager Alexander Vinokourov the last person to win from an escape in 2005.

Australian Richie Porte gave it a go with a loan break but Kittel’s Giant-Shimano team and fellow German Andre Greipel’s Lotto-Belisol squad led the chase.

When it came into the final few hundred metres, Kittel launched first but was overtaken by Kristoff, himself a winner of two stages at this Tour.

But the German found a second wind and came back at the Katusha sprinter to charge through and match exactly his feat from last year. Then too he won four stages — including both the first and last — and wore the yellow jersey for a day on stage two.

GIF: Kittel gets it. #TdF https://t.co/JyxpDQQRnB

— peloton magazine (@pelotonmagazine) July 27, 2014

Stage Results:

1. Marcel Kittel (GER/GIA) 3hr 20min 50sec
   (average: 41.1 km/h)
   2. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/KAT) at 0:00.
   3. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 0:00.
   4. André Greipel (GER/LTB) 0:00.
   5. Mark Renshaw (AUS/OPQ) 0:00.
   6. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/SKY) 0:00.
   7. Bryan Coquard (FRA/EUC) 0:00.
   8. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/OPQ) 0:00.
   9. Peter Sagan (SVK/CAN) 0:00.
   10. Romain Feillu (FRA/BSE) 0:00.
   11. Daniele Bennati (ITA/TIN) 0:00.
   12. Arnaud Démare (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
   13. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 0:00.
   14. Adrien Petit (FRA/COF) 0:00.
   15. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/BKN) 0:00.
   16. Daniel Oss (ITA/BMC) 0:00.
   17. Davide Cimolai (ITA/LAM) 0:00.
   18. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 0:04.
   19. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 0:04.
   20. Johan Van Summeren (BEL/GRM) 0:04.
   21. Roger Kluge (GER/IAM) 0:06.
   22. Kévin Reza (FRA/EUC) 0:06.
   23. Jack Bauer (NZL/GRM) 0:06.
   24. Tom Veelers (NED/GIA) 0:06.
   25. Elia Viviani (ITA/CAN) 0:09.

Overall Results:

1. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/AST) 89hr 59min 06sec
   2. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) at 7:37.
   3. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 8:15.
   4. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 9:40.
   5. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 11:44.
   6. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 11:46.
   7. Leopold König (CZE/APP) 14:32.
   8. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/TRE) 17:57.
   9. Laurens ten Dam (NED/BKN) 18:11.
   10. Bauke Mollema (NED/BKN) 21:15.
   11. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 23:07.
   12. Frank Schleck (LUX/TRE) 25:48.
   13. Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL/LTB) 34:01.
   14. Yury Trofimov (RUS/KAT) 36:41.
   15. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/BKN) 38:15.
   16. Brice Feillu (FRA/BSE) 43:59.
   17. Chris Horner (USA/LAM) 44:31.
   18. Mikel Nieve (ESP/SKY) 46:31.
   19. John Gadret (FRA/MOV) 47:30.
   20. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 52:11.
   21. Ben Gastauer (LUX/ALM) 58:00.
   22. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 59:14.
   23. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) 1h01:08.
   24. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OPQ) 1h06:28.
   25. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 1h08:47.
   26. Michael Rogers (AUS/TIN) 1h17:53.
   27. Peter Velits (SVK/BMC) 1h19:38.
   28. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/OPQ) 1h21:55.
   29. Tony Gallopin (FRA/LTB) 1h29:24.
   30. Arnold Jeannesson (FRA/FDJ) 1h33:27.
   31. Luis Ángel Maté (ESP/COF) 1h36:52.
   32. Marcel Wyss (SUI/IAM) 1h38:27.
   33. Tom Dumoulin (NED/GIA) 1h48:00.
   34. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/IAM) 1h48:13.
   35. Peter Stetina (USA/BMC) 1h52:36.
   36. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 1h54:50.
   37. Giovanni Visconti (ITA/MOV) 1h56:28.
   38. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 1h56:34.
   39. Nicolas Roche (IRL/TIN) 1h58:45.
   40. Bram Tankink (NED/BKN) 1h59:02.
   41. Jon Izagirre (ESP/MOV) 2h00:50.
   42. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 2h08:38.
   43. Michael Schär (SUI/BMC) 2h09:43.
   44. Rafal Majka (POL/TIN) 2h17:53.
   45. Amaël Moinard (FRA/BMC) 2h19:13.
   46. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/LAM) 2h21:18.
   47. Tony Martin (GER/OPQ) 2h25:35.
   48. José Serpa Perez (COL/LAM) 2h29:06.
   49. Michele Scarponi (ITA/AST) 2h31:40.
   50. Paul Voss (GER/APP) 2h32:48.

Class standings from the 21st stage of the Tour de France: 

   Points:
   1. Peter Sagan (SVK/CAN) 431 pts
   2. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/KAT) 282
   3. Bryan Coquard (FRA/EUC) 271
   4. Marcel Kittel (GER/GIA) 222
   5. Mark Renshaw (AUS/OPQ) 211
   6. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/AST) 182
   7. André Greipel (GER/LTB) 169
   8. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 157
   9. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 153
   10. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/ALM) 117

   King of Mountains:
   1. Rafal Majka (POL/TIN) 181 pts
   2. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/AST) 168
   3. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 112
   4. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 89
   5. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 85
   6. Alessandro De Marchi (ITA/CAN) 78
   7. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 61
   8. Giovanni Visconti (ITA/MOV) 54
   9. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 48
   10. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 48

   Team stage:
   1. BMC 10h02:34.
   2. Garmin at 0:06.
   3. Omega Pharma 0:11.
   4. Lampre 0:14.
   5. Giant 0:17.

   Team overall:
   1. AG2R La Mondiale 270h27:02.
   2. Belkin at 34:46.
   3. Movistar 1h06:10.
   4. BMC 1h07:51.
   5. Europcar 1h34:57.
   6. Astana 1h36:27.
   7. Sky 1h40:36.
   8. RadioShack 2h06:00.
   9. FDJ.fr 2h30:37.
   10. Lampre 2h32:46.
   11. Tinkoff 2h59:36.
   12. IAM Cycling 3h21:32.
   13. NetApp 3h24:11.
   14. Omega Pharma 3h26:34.
   15. Lotto 3h36:07.
   16. Cofidis 3h37:12.
   17. Katusha 4h02:46.
   18. Bretagne-Séché 4h52:09.
   19. Garmin 5h52:54.
   20. Orica – GreenEdge 7h03:46.
   21. Cannondale 7h20:37.

   Best young riders (stage):
   1. Bryan Coquard (FRA/EUC) 3h20:50.
   2. Peter Sagan (SVK/CAN) at 0:00.
   3. Arnaud Démare (FRA/FDJ) 0:00.
   4. Adrien Petit (FRA/COF) 0:00.
   5. Davide Cimolai (ITA/LAM) 0:00.

   Best young riders (overall):
   1. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 90h07:21.
   2. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) at 3:11.
   3. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/OPQ) 1h13:40.
   4. Tom Dumoulin (NED/GIA) 1h39:45.
   5. Jon Izagirre (ESP/MOV) 1h52:35.
   6. Rafal Majka (POL/TIN) 2h09:38.
   7. Rudy Molard (FRA/COF) 2h26:07.
   8. Benjamin King (USA/GRM) 2h33:44.
   9. Tom Slagter (NED/GRM) 2h41:05.
   10. Peter Sagan (SVK/CAN) 2h44:37.

   Aggressivity (overall):
   1. Alessandro De Marchi (ITA/CAN)