Kittel beats Greipel for Stage 10 win; Froome still in yellow

Saint-Malo, France (Sports Network) – Marcel Kittel outsprinted fellow German Andre Greipel to win Stage 10 of the Tour de France, while Britain’s Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey as the overall leader of cycling’s most prestigious event.

Kittel, who also won the first stage in Corsica on the opening day of the 100th Tour, beat Stage 6 winner Greipel to the line by about a tire length to win Tuesday’s 197-kilometer trek from Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to Saint-Malo.

The winning time was 4 hours, 53 minutes and 25 seconds.

Mark Cavendish, the Stage 5 winner, bumped another rider and knocked him down in the final moments en route to a third-place finish for the day. Peter Sagan, winner of Stage 7, was fourth.

“All the big sprinters were there at the finish,” said Kittel. “I’m really proud that we won today and that everyone was there for the finale and that I could beat even Greipel in close race to the line.”

Froome finished 24th on Tuesday. He claimed the leader’s yellow jersey after winning Stage 8 on Saturday and still owns an advantage of 1 minute, 25 seconds over Spain’s Alejandro Valverde, who was 25th on Tuesday.

“We’re aware that this isn’t going to be an easy ride now and every day that we have in yellow is an absolute honor,” said Froome.

Alberto Contador of Spain, a two-time champion who was also stripped of the 2010 title for a doping offense, is sixth overall and just 1:51 off the pace. Andy Schleck of Luxembourg was awarded the 2010 title and is 15th overall, one place ahead of 2011 winner Cadel Evans of Australia.

Stage 11 on Wednesday is a 33-kilometer time trial from Avranches to Mont- Saint-Michel.

Categorized in: General Sports