Marcel Kittel showed great condition in today's second stage of the Driedaagse van De Panne when the big German made it over the Kemmelberg with the select front group. With no teammates at his side, however, he got boxed at the finish and was left hugely disappointed after having settled for 8th.

 

At the end of today’s second stage of the Three Days of De Panne, Marcel Kittel sprinted to eighth place after being blocked in a hectic finish.

 

Kittel rode himself into the front group when the peloton split behind the day’s break of seven riders. The two groups soon came together to make 32, but Marcel was isolated on his own against larger numbers from other teams.

 

This proved to be a factor come the finish as the front group came back together and other teams took control to lead out their respective sprinters. Kittel got stuck behind as riders went backwards and couldn’t unleash all his power.

 

He eventually came across the line in eighth while the rest of the peloton, containing his Team Giant-Shimano team mates came across the line over three minutes down.

 

“We missed out a bit today and the end was really disappointing for Marcel as he was boxed in,” said coach Aike Visbeek. “We weren’t that fresh at the start as firstly Bert de Backer was ill and also Sea Keong Loh was suffering after his crash yesterday, but both started and eventually finished ok.

 

“Everything was under control behind the break until the peloton hit the hills. Marcel was in a good position over the Kemmelberg where the race split but the others weren’t very well placed and missed the split.

 

“We still chased behind to put pressure on the front group but we didn’t have the freshness to really make a difference. Marcel was really disappointed with the sprint. Both he and the team had high hopes for today’s stage but it didn’t work out. We will go for it again tomorrow and see what we can do there.”

 

Tobias Ludvigsson, who lost time today in his fight for a good overall position, said:

 

“I’m quite disappointed personally about today as I had hopes for the overall in this race and today it didn’t work out.

 

“It was a combination of not having the legs and being badly positioned when the split went and it meant that there was no-one up front to support Marcel. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel a bit better and I will give the time trial my all.”

 

Starting at 10.15 and 14.25 CEST respectively you can follow tomorrow's first two stageson CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview here.