Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) is racking up Tour stage wins in impressive fashion. He has already won stage 1 in Bastia and stage 10 in Saint-Malo, but today was the German’s most impressive win as he out-sprinted Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) after starting his kick from the Manxman’s wheel.

“It's unbelievable,” said Kittel. “It feels like a dream and it's something very, very special for me and the whole team. The boys did a great job. We stayed really calm today and nobody made a mistake – the sprint preparation was very good and I'm unbelievably proud of how we stick together and I really enjoy working with my boys.”

As usual, the Argos-Shimano train didn’t come forward until late, hitting the front around 5 km from the line. After the last corner at 400 m to go, Kittel was out of teammates though and had to take the wheel of Cavendish in order to stay out of the wind. More often than not, that would make it impossible to beat the British champion, but Kittel had that extra speed and won the sprint by half a wheel.

The stage winner himself had a very simple explanation: “Today I was the fastest man in the peloton,” he said, but continued: “When the last lead-out man pulled off I jumped to the right wheels and had a very good position when Mark Cavendish started the sprint. I stayed calm and was able to overtake him in the end, but it was very close. It was great to beat Cavendish in a straightforward sprint. We started the sprint together, and I had the best punch at the end.”

Kittel’s victories are a product of good teamwork, and morale is high in the Argos-Shimano team: “Koen de Kort was afraid that I might win again because we had a bet: If I win three stages, he has to shave his head. Since the first win we could just enjoy the Tour and easily focus on the next goals, winning more stages. We’ve done a good job so far, and I’m proud to know that I can beat the world’s best.”

“Before the Tour we knew the team worked and we had prepared well, but when everything falls into place like this it is incredible. We have three wins already now and I'm so proud of my whole team. It's hard to describe in words.”

Kittel also thanked Tom Veelers who was injured in the crash during the sprint two days ago: “Veelers was in tears after the finish. I am happy to win because he still was in a lot of pain today.”

With three stage wins under his belt, Kittel now simply wants to reach Paris: “I want to finish the Tour de France and that means making it all the way to Paris and now I just have to survive another sprint stage and the Alps. It's pretty hard there, I've heard, but with the race that we've done already we can actually relax a little and that gives us a lot of extra motivation.”