Marcel Kittel

Marcel Kittel (born 11 May 1988) is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2019 for the Team Giant–Alpecin, Quick-Step Floors and Team Katusha–Alpecin squads.[4] As a junior, he specialised in time trials, even winning a bronze medal in the World Championships for cyclists aged under 23. When he became a professional in 2011, he specialised in bunch sprints, winning 19 stages across the three Grand Tours, and taking 89 wins in his professional career.

Marcel Kittel
Kittel in 2018
Personal information
Full nameMarcel Kittel
Born (1988-05-11) 11 May 1988
Arnstadt, Bezirk Erfurt, East Germany
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight82 kg (181 lb; 12 st 13 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Amateur team
2007–2010Thüringer Energie Team
Professional teams
2011–2015Skil–Shimano
2016–2017Etixx–Quick-Step
2018–2019Team Katusha–Alpecin[2][3]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
14 individual stages (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Giro d'Italia
4 individual stages (2014, 2016)
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2011)

Stage races

Dubai Tour (2016, 2017)

One-day races and Classics

Scheldeprijs (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017)
Münsterland Giro (2011, 2012)
Grand Prix de Fourmies (2016)

Career

Skil–Shimano (2011–15)

2011 season

Kittel made his professional debut in 2011 with the Dutch team Skil–Shimano. Known as a time trial specialist at the time, he won a bunch sprint during the Tour de Langkawi. After the success he decided to become a sprinter. He then won four out of five stages in the Four Days of Dunkirk, all in bunch sprints. Kittel won his first World Tour stage, winning the opening stage of the Tour de Pologne, a race where he also won three other stages. He also made his Grand Tour debut in the Vuelta a España, where he won the seventh stage beating Peter Sagan and Óscar Freire. He finished the season off by winning two stages at the Herald Sun Tour. Kittel became the second most winning rider in 2011 - with 17 wins.

2012 season

Kittel made his Tour de France debut in 2012 when he was selected as leader of his team, where he would compete for stage wins and the green jersey.[5] However he withdrew an hour into stage 5, after suffering from a viral infection of the stomach and intestines from stage 2, the fourth retirement of the 2012 Tour.[6] He bounced back at the beginning of August, when he won the first stage of the Eneco Tour, the first event in his return to racing. The only rider who was competitive with him in the final bunch sprint was Frenchman Arnaud Démare (FDJ–BigMat).[7] After bad luck struck on stage 3, where he suffered a flat tyre with 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) to go,[8] Kittel prevailed again on stage 4. He congratulated his teammates Tom Veelers and John Degenkolb for their work in the final kilometres, as they sheltered him from the wind before he propelled himself toward the finish line and the victory.[9] At the end of 2012, as the cycling world was affected by the Lance Armstrong doping case revelations, Kittel took a vocal anti-doping stance by stating that he was "sick" of the people who still defended Armstrong in the cycling community.[10]

2013 season

In 2013, Kittel's team Argos–Shimano was promoted to the first division of the sport and was granted World Tour status.[11] Kittel won the first stage of the Tour of Oman in a sprint finish, his first success of the season.[12] In the Tour de France, Kittel found success as a sprinter. He finished first in the Tour's first stage in Corsica and took the first maillot jaune of the 100th Tour de France. He lost the yellow jersey the next day, however, to Jan Bakelants of RadioShack–Leopard. Kittel was not done in this Tour, though, he would go on to win the 10th and 12th stages. On the final stage, Kittel triumphed again on the Champs-Élysées, ending the four-year winning streak of Omega Pharma–Quick-Step rider Mark Cavendish. He would finish 4th in the Green Jersey points standings.

2014 season

Kittel started the 2014 season early by winning the Down Under Classic, followed by three consecutive stage wins at the Dubai Tour. On the third stage, he survived two short climbs near the end of the race and won the sprint of a greatly reduced group.[13] In April he won the Scheldeprijs for the third time in a row, the first rider to achieve this. In the Giro d'Italia, Kittel won stages 2 and 3 in Belfast and Dublin respectively, but abandoned the race before it reached Italian soil. As he did in 2013, Kittel won the opening stage at the Tour de France and took the yellow jersey, but lost it to Vincenzo Nibali on stage 2. However, Kittel won both stages 3 and 4. He also won the final stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as he did in 2013. In September, Kittel won the opening stage of the Tour of Britain by outsprinting Nicola Ruffoni and Mark Cavendish.[14] He also won the closing stage.[15]

2015 season

In January, Kittel won the Down Under Classic in Australia for the second year in a row.[16] By the end of April, he had competed in only two UCI races: the Tour Down Under and the Tour of Qatar. He failed to participate in any sprints in those races, as he was plagued by a virus. He returned to competition in May in the Tour de Yorkshire,[17] but he dropped out after riding 100 kilometres (62 miles) in the first stage.[18] He was supposed to make another comeback at the Tour of California but he withdrew days before the event, citing illness once again.[19] He did ride the Ster ZLM Toer, but could not finish in the top 10 of a stage. At the end of June, it was announced that Kittel would not participate in the Tour de France, since his condition was not up to par.[20] "Not being nominated [for the Tour] is without doubt the most difficult time of my career," said Kittel a day after his non-selection was made public.[21]

Etixx–Quick-Step (2016–17)

In October 2015, it was announced that he had signed a two-year deal with Etixx–Quick-Step from 2016, after Team Giant–Alpecin released him from his contract a year early.[22]

2016 season

At the Dubai Tour, his first race of the season, he won two stages, the overall classification as well as the points classification.[23] He carried on his successes to the Portuguese race Volta ao Algarve, winning stage 1 by a significant margin over André Greipel.[24] He also won stage 4 and the points classification jersey.[25]

2017 season

Kittel won five stages in the Tour de France, bringing his total of Tour de France stage victories to fourteen.

Team Katusha–Alpecin (2018–19)

2018 season
Kittel at the start of the 2018 Milan–San Remo

For the third year in a row, he chose to start his season at the Dubai Tour, but was unable to win any stages.[26] Kittel took two wins in the 2018 season, both of which came at Tirreno–Adriatico.[27]

2019 season

Kittel started the 2019 season strongly, winning the Trofeo Palma, part of the Challenge Mallorca, and taking second place at the Clásica de Almería.[28] He pulled out of the Tour of California and the Tour de Yorkshire before the races started, citing health issues. On 9 May 2019, his contract with Team Katusha–Alpecin was terminated.[4] This was a mutual decision by the team management and Kittel, who opted to take time off from professional cycling because of fatigue.[29]

Kittel announced his retirement from professional cycling on 23 August 2019.[30]

Major results

Source:[31]

2004
1st Road race, National Novice Road Championships
2005
1st Time trial, UCI Juniors World Championships
2nd Time trial, National Junior Road Championships
2006
1st Time trial, UCI Juniors World Championships
National Junior Road Championships
1st Time trial
1st Team time trial
1st Stage 3a (ITT) Trofeo Karlsberg
2007
1st Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
1st Stage 4 Brandenburg Rundfahrt
2008
1st Grosser Silber-Pils Preiss
1st Memorial Davide Fardelli
2nd Overall Brandenburg Rundfahrt
1st Stage 5
2009
1st Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
1st Stage 6 Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23
4th Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
4th Neuseen Classics
6th La Côte Picarde
7th Overall Flèche du Sud
1st Stages 1 & 3
8th Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux
9th Overall Tour du Haut-Anjou
1st Stage 4
2010
1st Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
Tour de Moselle
1st Stages 2 & 4
2nd Overall Mainfranken-Tour
3rd Time trial, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships
3rd Overall Festningsrittet
1st Stage 2
3rd Memorial Davide Fardelli
2011
1st Overall Delta Tour Zeeland
1st Stage 1
1st ProRace Berlin
1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
1st Münsterland Giro
1st Amstel Curaçao Race
Four Days of Dunkirk
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 5
Tour de Pologne
1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 7
Herald Sun Tour
1st Stages 3 & 5
1st Stage 3 Tour de Langkawi
1st Stage 7 Vuelta a España
2nd Rund um Köln
3rd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
6th Trofeo Cala Millor
2012
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Omloop van het Houtland
1st Münsterland Giro
Ster ZLM Toer
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
Eneco Tour
1st Stages 1 & 4
Tour of Oman
1st Stages 3 & 6
Tour de l'Eurométropole
1st Stages 2 & 3
1st Stage 2 Three Days of De Panne
1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges
2nd Handzame Classic
3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies
7th Grand Prix Impanis-Van Petegem
2013
1st Overall Tour de Picardie
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 3
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Omloop van het Houtland
1st ProRace Berlin
Tour de France
1st Stages 1, 10, 12 & 21
Held after Stage 1
Held after Stages 1 & 2
Tour of Turkey
1st Stages 1, 7 & 8
1st Stage 2 Paris–Nice
1st Stage 1 Tour of Oman
6th Overall Ster ZLM Toer
1st Stage 2
2014
1st Down Under Classic
1st Scheldeprijs
Tour de France
1st Stages 1, 3, 4 & 21
Held & after Stage 1
Giro d'Italia
1st Stages 2 & 3
Held after Stages 2 & 3
Tour of Britain
1st Stages 1 & 8b
1st Stage 1 Ster ZLM Toer
5th Overall Three Days of De Panne
6th Overall Dubai Tour
1st Points classification
1st Stages 2, 3 & 4
6th Vattenfall Cyclassics
2015
1st Down Under Classic
Tour de Pologne
1st Points classification
1st Stage 1
6th Rund um Köln
2016
1st Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
1st Overall Dubai Tour
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
1st Scheldeprijs
1st Grand Prix de Fourmies
Giro d'Italia
1st Stages 2 & 3
Held after Stage 3
Held after Stages 2–6
Volta ao Algarve
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 3a Three Days of De Panne
1st Stage 4 Tour de France
3rd Road race, National Road Championships
2017
1st Overall Dubai Tour
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1, 2 & 5
1st Scheldeprijs
Tour de France
1st Stages 2, 6, 7, 10 & 11
Held after Stages 2–3 & 7–16
1st Stage 1 Tour of California
1st Stage 2 Abu Dhabi Tour
1st Stage 3a Three Days of De Panne
1st Stage 4 Ster ZLM Toer
4th Münsterland Giro
2018
Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Stages 2 & 6
5th Rund um Köln
2019
1st Trofeo Palma
2nd Clásica de Almería

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Giro d'Italia — — — DNS-4 — DNS-9 — —
Stages won — — — 2 — 2 — —
Points classification — — — — — — — —
Tour de France — DNF-5 166 161 — 166 DNF-17 DNF-11
Stages won — 0 4 4 — 1 5 0
Points classification — — 4 4 — 2 — —
Vuelta a España DNS-13 — — — — — — —
Stages won 1 — — — — — — —
Points classification — — — — — — — —
Legend
1Winner
2–3Top three-finish
4–10Top ten-finish
11–Other finish
DNEDid Not Enter
DNF-xDid Not Finish (retired on stage x)
DNS-xDid Not Start (no started on stage x)
DSQDisqualified
N/ARace/classification not held
NRNot Ranked in this classification
gollark: It can actually be more than that depending on what operations are done, since modern CPUs can do more than one instruction per clock.
gollark: Which your thing is not.
gollark: That would be with hyper-optimized concurrent code.
gollark: None of that looks particularly expensive, weird.
gollark: I... don't think that's a thing, what is your code doing?

References
  1. "Marcel Kittel profile".
  2. "Marcel Kittel joins Tony Martin at Katusha-Alpecin". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  3. "Katusha-Alpecin announce reduced 24-rider roster for 2019". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  4. Ballinger, Alex (9 May 2019). "Marcel Kittel quits Katusha-Alpecin". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  5. "Kittel leads Argos-Shimano at Tour de France". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  6. Decaluwé, Brecht (5 July 2012). "Kittel quits Tour de France on stage five". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  7. "Kittel makes winning return at Eneco Tour". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  8. Atkins, Ben (9 August 2012). "Kittel sprints to stage four as Boonen sneaks into the lead". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  9. "Kittel takes second win at Eneco Tour". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  10. "Kittel "sick" of Armstrong supporters". CyclingNews. Future Publishing Limited. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  11. "Argos-Shimano Team celebrates its new WorldTour license". CyclingNews. Future Publishing Limited. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  12. "Tour of Oman: Marcel Kittel Wins Stage 1". Bicycling. AFP. 11 February 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  13. Stokes, Shane (7 February 2014). "Kittel grabs another stage win in Dubai Tour, Phinney resists attacks on final climbs". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  14. "Tour of Britain: Kittel wins stage 1 in Liverpool". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  15. "Kittel wins final Tour of Britain stage". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  16. "Marcel Kittel opens 2015 account with victory in the People's Choice Classic". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  17. Brown, Gregor (28 April 2015). "Marcel Kittel makes comeback in Tour de Yorkshire after three-month break". Cycling Weekly. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  18. Benson, Daniel (1 May 2015). "Marcel Kittel abandons Tour de Yorkshire on stage 1". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  19. Clarke, Stuart (7 May 2015). "Marcel Kittel will not ride Tour of California as struggles continue". Cycling Weekly. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  20. O'Shea, Sadhbh (25 June 2015). "Marcel Kittel will not ride Tour de France". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  21. Brown, Gregor (26 June 2015). "Kittel: This is the most difficult time of my career". Cycling Weekly. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  22. "Marcel Kittel joins Etixx - Quick-Step, Ivan Basso retires". BBC Sport. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  23. Fretz, Caley (6 February 2016). "Kittel takes stage, overall in Dubai". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  24. Farrand, Stephen (17 February 2016). "Volta ao Algarve: Kittel wins stage 1 in Albufeira". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  25. Farrand, Stephen (20 February 2016). "Volta ao Algarve stage 4: Kittel dominates the sprint in Tavira". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  26. "Dubai Tour 2018 | Stages | Winners and leaders". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  27. "Kittel ends season early after frustrating year". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019. In his first year with Team Katusha-Alpecin, the German sprinter has brought in only two wins, taking sprint victories in two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico in March.
  28. "Kittel pulls out of Tour de Yorkshire due to health issues". cyclingnews.com. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  29. "Marcel Kittel and Katusha-Alpecin terminate contract". cyclingnews.com. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  30. "Marcel Kittel - News". www.marcelkittel.de. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  31. Profile at Cycling Archives
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