Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) proved that he has improved massively as a climber when he won today's queen stage of the Dubai Tour. Having survived the late climbs with gradients of up to 11%, the German credited last year's Tour de France for his ability to stay with the best but rules out that he will ever be able to win Milan-Sanremo.

Marcel Kittel (GER) has won his second consecutive stage at the Dubai Tour, winning the bunch sprint on stage 3 in impressive fashion. Having already won yesterday, the team executed another great job to continue the superb run of form over the past few days.

The stage, labeled as the Queen stage, saw the riders tackle two climbs in the second half of the race, the latter falling in the final 10km with ramps of up to 11%. Despite a fast tempo, Kittel held strong to stay with the front group, showing how he has developed over the winter period.

In a hectic finish to the stage, Kittel found himself on his own again but found the right gap and timed his move to perfection to take a well deserved win on the line. Just metres behind, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg also sprinted to a strong fifth place showing real strength in depth in the team.

"What can I say! I felt great today and the guys did a really good job in helping me get to the climb in a good position," said a very happy Kittel when back on the team bus. "It was tough to stay with the front group but having finished a Grand Tour and having a strong winter's training in the legs had really helped me.

"I have to say thanks again to Giant as when I'm sprinting the bike feels amazing, so stiff. Knowing you have the perfect equipment gives you that extra confidence."

Kittel said that it is part of his long-term plans to be able to win harder races.

"I'm very happy for this win," he said. "The team worked very well today. They gave me a big hand to get me to the finish, and I repaid them with a good win.

"Today was hard because we had to chase down the attackers on the climbs. I know this is one of my limits and I want to improve so that I can win races with climbs before a flat finish."

In the past his improved climbing would have made him a Milan-Sanremo contenders but with the new, harder course, Kittel rules out a win in La Primavera.

"I don't think I can win Milano-Sanremo: it's a completely different type of race, although I've never ridden it, so I don't know," he said Maybe in the future, but with the change it's almost impossible for the sprinters."

Kittel has now set his sights on a clean sweep of the road stages in Dubai as tomorrow's final stage is a flat one in the city centre.

"I hope that tomorrow is a good day for me," he said. "I'm confident and I hope I can win stage 3."

Coach Aike Visbeek revealed that the team had started the stage with a two-pronged attack.

"The plan for the stage was to gamble with both Marcel and Reinardt, and see if Marcel could make it over the climb in the front group," he said. "The teamwork from the guys was great, staying with Marcel and helping him before the climb. He then rode a great finish, staying calm and taking his second win. Another great day for the team."

Starting at 10.45 CET you can follow tomorrow's final stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live. You can read our preview of the stage here.