Usually Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) isn’t a person you’d want to be around after he’s lost a sprint: The British champion is prone to throwing his helmet or shouting at reporters. But today he kept his calm and admitted defeat.

Unlike other sprint stages in this year’s Tour de France, Cavendish was positioned perfectly by his teammates, with Matteo Trentin and Gert Steegmans leading him out until 200 m from the finish. But in the end, Marcel Kittel came out of Cavendish’s wheel and beat him to the line.

“You can sit there and analyze it, but when there is someone simply faster than you there is nothing you can do,” Cavendish said. “I don't think I, or the team, could have done anything differently. He was simply better today. I tweeted the other day that I think he's the next big thing. I spoke with him today actually. I think he’s the next superstar in sprinting and he showed it today. He's won three stages now and that’s not easy. I can tell you that from experience.”

Cavendish praised the work of his team: “My team was incredible today. In the last days we ultimately always ran out of guys. So today we talked about staying calm and staying patient and going at the last moment. The guys were a lot more comfortable and it made my job a lot easier. I’m just really disappointed I couldn’t finish it off for them."