Sprint king Kittel finds another gear

German powerhouse Marcel Kittel proved for the second day in succession he is currently the best sprinter in the world when he stormed to victory on stage three of the Giro d’Italia in front of over 50,000 fans in Dublin’s city centre yesterday.

The Giant-Shimano rider, who turned 26 yesterday, looked to be out of contention in the gallop for the line when the riders rounded the final bend.

Kittel was further back the peloton than he’d have liked as both Team Sky and Cannondale did superbly well to position their respective sprinters, Ben Swift and Elia Viviani, right on the nose of the peloton. But, after losing his teammates in that final frantic few hundred metres, Kittel found another gear, locked onto the wheel of Swift and when the Englishman opened up his effort, Kittel came from behind with an outrageous burst of speed to take it on the line by half a wheel. “When I could see the finish line after the final corner I gave it everything and it was really close but I just concentrated on the line and managed to come past everyone,” said the victor afterwards.