Team Argos-Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel continued his winning form from the Tour of Turkey as he won stage 1 of the Tour de Picardie in a bunch sprint as the French 3-day stage race kicked off today.

The German was quite superior in the sprint to the finish line that ended the 190 km opening stage from Guise to Flixecourt, seeing off the challenges of young Frenchmen Couqard and Corbel.

It was a perfect stage for Kittel who pulled off the win in style and will wear the leader’s jersey in tomorrow’s stage 2.

Stage 1 result:

1 Marcel Kittel, Argos-Shimano 4h 57'46''
2 Bryan Coquard, Team Europcar
3 Erwann Corbel, Bretagne-Seche Environement
4 Benjamin Giraud, Team La Pomme-Marseille
5 Danny van Poppel, Vacansoleil-DCM
6 Andrew Fenn, Omega Pharma-Quick Step
7 Kenny Robert van Hummel, Vacansoleil-DCM
8 Maxime Daniel, Sojasun
9 Jürgen Roelandts, Lotto-Belisol
10 Lloyd Mondory, AG2R La Mondiale