MARCEL KITTEL
Date of birth: 11/05/1988
From: Germany
Team: Etixx-QuickStep
Previous teams: Giant-Alpecin (2011-2015), Thüringer Energie Team (2007-2010)
Twitter: @marcelkittel
Website: www.marcelkittel.de
Marcel Kittel career profile
Marcel Kittel ended his espoir career with a bronze medal in the 2010 under-23 UCI Time Trial World Championships in Geelong, Australia.
He made his professional debut with then Professional Continental outfit Skil-Shimano in 2011 where his aptitude as a sprinter was quickly noted and nurtured.
Kittel was dubbed the most successful ever neo-professional that season. He amassed 17 victories, from the Tour of Langkawi in January to the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in October, finishing second to only Philippe Gilbert, who recorded 18, in the 2011 victory ranking.
Kittel made his debut at the Vuelta a Espana the same season and won his, and the team’s, maiden Grand Tour triumph taking line honours at the end of stage seven.
In 2012 he won the semi-classic Scheldeprijs in the absence of Mark Cavendish and then beat the Manxman in a fair sprint in 2013 to claim his second consecutive title.
His team acquired a top-tier WorldTour licence, and was re-branded Argos-Shimano, prior to the 2013 season, and the young Kittel was again at the helm of its success.
The German, in winning stage two of Paris-Nice, marked the squad’s first WorldTour victory as a WorldTour team.
Illness cut his Tour de France debut short and Kittel was forced to abandon in the first week.
However, he returned with a vengeance in 2013 winning four stages in what was a bookend performance.
Kittel won the Grand Depart to take the first yellow jersey of the race. He best Andre Greipel and then Cavendish, in stages 10 and 12, respectively, before cementing his name as the fastest sprinter of that Tour with victory on the Champs Elysees.
An illness-plagued 2015 season saw him struggling to maintain any sort of form. A promising start with a win in the People's Choice Classic in Australia was followed by months of mediocre performances and non-starts, and he missed the 2015 Tour de France.
Kittel switched teams to Etixx-QuickStep for 2016 and immediately returned to top form, claiming the overall victory in the Dubai Tour.
Marcel Kittel results
2016
Dubai Tour; stage one
Dubai Tour; stage four
Dubai Tour; overall
Dubai Tour; points classification
Volta ao Algarve; stage one
Volta ao Algarve; stage four
Volta ao Algarve; points classification
Three Days of De Panne; stage 3a
Scheldeprijs
Tour de Romandie; stage one
Giro d'Italia; stage two
Giro d'Italia; stage three
2015
People's Choice Classic
Tour of Poland; stage one
2014
Tour Down Under; Classic
Dubai Tour; stage two
Dubai Tour; stage three
Dubai Tour; stage four
Dubai Tour; points classification
Scheldeprijs
Giro d'Italia; stage two
Giro d'Italia; stage three
Ster ZLM Toer; stage one
Tour de France; stage one
Tour de France; stage three
Tour de France; stage four
Tour of Britain; stage one
Tour of Britain; stage 8b
2013
Tour of Oman; stage one
Paris-Nice; stage two
Scheldeprijs
Tour of Turkey; stage one
Tour of Turkey; stage seven
Tour of Turkey; stage eight
Tour de Picardie; stage one
Tour de Picardie; stage three
Tour de Picardie; overall
ProRace Berlin
Ster ZLM Toer; stage two
Tour de France; stage one
Tour de France; stage 10
Tour de France; stage 12
Tour de France; stage 21
Omloop van het Houtland-Lichtervelde
2012
Etoile de Besseges; stage two
Tour of Oman; stage three
Tour of Oman; stage six
Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde; stage two
Scheldeprijs
Ster ZLM Toer; stage one
Ster ZLM Toer; stage four
Eneco Tour; stage one
Eneco Tour; stage four
Omloop van het Houtland-Lichtervelde
Franco-Belge; stage two
Franco-Belge; stage three
Munsterland Giro
2011
Tour of Langkawi; stage three
Four Days of Dunkirk; stage one
Four Days of Dunkirk; stage two
Four Days of Dunkirk; stage three
Four Days of Dunkirk; stage five
ProRace Berlin
Delta Tour Zeeland; stage one
Delta Tour Zeeland; overall
Tour of Poland; stage one
Tour of Poland; stage two
Tour of Poland; stage three
Tour of Poland; stage seven
Vuelta a Espana; stage seven
Koolskamp
Munsterland Giro
Jayco Herald Sun Tour; stage three
Jayco Herald Sun Tour; stage five
2010
Festningsrittet; stage two
2009
Tour du Haut Anjou; stage four
Fleche du Sud; stage one
Fleche du Sud; stage three
U23 European Championships; individual time trial
2008
Memorial Davide Fardelli
EXTERNAL LINKS
Marcel Kittel’s Twitter: www.twitter.com/marcelkittel
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marcelkittel
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