Team Argos-Shimano continues without Marcel Kittel
Marcel Kittel’s days of pain are over. The sprinter of Team Argos-Shimano abandoned during Thursday’s fifth stage of the Tour de France. After forty kilometers the German got off his bike. Ever since Monday Kittel was suffering from a stomach flu. During the week he also incurred an irritated knee.
“I’m very disappointed”, Kittel says. “I was really looking forward to this Tour de France and expected a lot of it. I was ready, my teammates were ready and together we really thought we could take a stage win. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.”
In the end it was not the stomach flu that tackled Kittel. “Last night I slept well and this morning I was able to eat just before the stage. It was my left knee that forced me to abandon. Maybe the past few days I cramped up a bit and sat in a wrong position on my bike. I think that caused the irritation in my knee. Further research has to tell what’s really going on.”
Veelers
The departure of Kittel’s means Tom Veelers is now the number one sprinter of the team. On Thursday the Dutchman did again a good job. After his two previous top-five finishes, he now grabbed sixth place.
“I was in André Greipel’s wheel, but couldn’t hold on until the end”, Veelers puffed after the finish. “It shows the quality of the riders here.”
Farrar
In the final there was a crash with Veelers indirectly involved. Tyler Farrar wanted to take the position of Veelers and started leaning on the Dutchman. When the American had to brake for a rider who came along, Veelers got away. Farrar crashed because his ‘mainstay’ wasn’t there anymore.
“Tyler wanted to get in the wheel of Koen de Kort, but I was already there. He didn’t respect my train, but that’s his problem. I get why he’s upset, because a crash is never very pleasant.”
